In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he choses to the use of nature, light versus dark, to show the beliefs in good versus evil. Nature also contrasts Puritanism,where Puritanism is rigid, nature is forgiving and flexible.A comparison of nature and light versus darkness shows a strong belief of ideas, under the terms of good versus evil. By looking at examples of light and dark, we can see the ideas of the symbols of nature used in the book.
One of the examples is the idea of roses, in the beginning the introduction of roses outside the jail where Hester was held. The narrator describes the roses outside the prison:
“On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June,…show more content… In a way the embroidered letter represents the rose bush, rooted near sin but still beautiful. Hester also choses to make something beautiful out of her punishment.
Even Hesters daughter, who was born in the prison is something beautiful out of sin. Pearl is around three and is asked the question how she was made. The narrator answers by saying that “The child finally announced that she had not been made at all,but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses that grew by the prison door” (Hawthorne…show more content… It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it ... was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony” (Hawthorne 46)
Grey garments the Puritans wear, in contrast to bold punishment of a scarlet letter on Hesters chest.
Nature is again used to separate people into good and evil. In the town Mr. Chillingworth to start of already has a questionable name, and is also known as a leech. Leeches could be a representation of either good or evil; leeches were thought to be helpful medicinally but they did also remove large amounts of blood. This is more uses when Chillingworth when he takes care of Mayor Dimmsdale.
It also seems that Chillingworth's and Dimmesdale's talking sounds are just like another kind of natural noise, like the "murmur" of the waves or the "solemn" sounds of the