The most important symbol in the novel is the scarlet letter, which affects each character in a different way. The characters who are affected by the letter are Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl, and Hester Prynne (Schneider). The scarlet letter is a sign by which the colonial authority seeks to fix the crime of adultery and the criminal, Hester Prynne. The “A” both indicates, yet hinders the Puritan community’s authority over Hester’s identity. As the novel progresses, the letter changes meaning from adultery to ability, in the eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine, and the Puritan society becomes not only bigoted and joyless, but essentially evil. (Bloom 13-14, 97, 100)

The person that is affected most by the scarlet letter is Hester Prynne, for many very obvious reasons. It is a large part of her daily life, and each of her actions is watched very closely by the com

Pearl, at a young age, is fixated on the “A”, as most children would be. Her existence fails to advance our understanding of Hester and Dimmesdale, but helps in explaining Hester’s offense. She symbolizes the union of her two parents, outside of marriage, and is therefore labeled as a strange or evil child. However, all of her actions in the novel are innocent and devoid of blame. She is also very curious, shown by her questioning and also her creation of an “A” of seaweed in the forest. She mimics her mother and shows her fondness of the “A”. Near the end of the novel, when her mother is given an opportunity to leave her mark of shame behind, Pearl will not let her discard the letter. Pearl herself is an emblem of Hester and Dimmesdale’s love. She symbolizes the love between the two and in turn the “A” itself. (Hoffman 38-39)

One of the major problems Arthur Dimmesdale faces, while dealing with his struggle to admit his faults, is that he is a spiritual figure and a person held high in the community. Through many of his actions, the minister symbolizes Jesus Christ and his death for the sins of humanity. The most difficult thing that Dimmesdale must do every week is to preach and give sermons. To the people he is an image of Christ, but he cannot confess to them at his sermons that he is not. He preaches the laws of Christ and the way the community should act in the eyes of God and yet, he has broken a major law of Christian teaching. His choice to elect a “crucifixion” at his confession was an act to free himself, but also to free the sins of the Puritan community, including its hypocrisy, its iron attachment to the law, and its merciless. (Fossum 46-47)

Arthur Dimmesdale is as much responsible for the creation of the scarlet letter as Hester. Their illicit love has had a different effect him because he failed to admit to his adulterous actions. His inability to release his guilt has given him an emotional, spiritual, and physical burden, which he ultimately cannot ove

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