The Scarlet A

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a young woman named Hester is forced to wear a large scarlet letter A on her clothing because she committed adultery.  This object was a repeating theme throughout the story and one can only fully understand its affect by breaking it apart.  First, the letter stood as a symbol of her sin, one that relates to the other symbol of her sin, Pearl. Pearl forces Hester to leave her letter on. Next, the color scarlet has a negative connotation and would be considered a hot color. This also relates to Pearl when she wears the scarlet dress.  The letter is traced in gold threads which is ironic because gold typically would be worn by someone of a high social status.  The town’s people describe how outsiders feel about the letter as the book progresses. At first they concluded the A stood for adulterer; however, eventually the A was deemed as able.  This demonstrates the power the public has on ideas, which would also explain peer pressure.  Lastly, the letters comprising the words “S-C-A-R-L-E-T” and “L-E-T-T-E-R” are very harsh sounds. The CAH and ET sounds slice through the word like a needle puncturing fabric.  These explanations should allow a full understanding of the scarlet A.