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The Ambiguity Use of Symbolism in “The Scarlet Letter” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlett Letter, uses a lot of symbolism in the story that represents several meanings within the context of the story. Hawthorne uses symbolism to add greater meaning to the story. Objects such as the prison, rosebush, scaffold, meteor, forest, brook, and little Pearl are all important symbols in Hawthorne’s novel. The most obvious and principal symbol in the novel is …

…her agony and loneliness. She is an outcast of the Puritan society. For seven years Hester lives isolated from the town. She lives alone with her child in the outskirts of the town. As the years pass by and as she is more involved in helping the sick, the people forget the actual meaning of the letter. The town people now see the letter as a symbol of an able person and not a sinner.