... sentenced to wear the "A " on her chest. Elizabeth Perry Hodges states, "The town gossips and magistrates--are guilty at one time or another of reducing the complex humanity of Hester Prynne to the fixed meaning associated with the letter she must wear on her breast for life, the "A" that identifies her, simply, with ... she makes the decision to stay and face her now changed life with the shameful scarlet letter which is now at home on her chest. The next character that helps show identity in society is Mr. Dimmesdale. However unlike Hester his identity in society helped him, due to th...

• Word Count: 1923
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

... actual "A" is the most obvious symbol, there are several others which have great importance as well. 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 ... by most. (Novelguide) Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols very well in his novel The Scarlet Letter. They not only add a deeper meaning, but help the reader to understand many of the complex relationsh...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , this would seem to be no more than a dime-store romance about a love denied; however, after a closer reading, this proves to be a novel about brilliantly interwoven characters written in a technically complex format. The symbolism of the prison, roses, the scaffold, the letter "A," contrasts between light and dark, and the forest throughout the novel are the undefined characters. An understanding of these ... town that the stigma of the letter can change Hester, but nobody cares and this indifference is Hester's freedom. In fact, "the effect of the letter so far as Hester's character i...

• Word Count: 1915
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School