The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism Of The Letter A

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"Of an impulse and passionate nature. She had fortified
herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely
wreaking itself in every variety of insult but there was a quality so much
more terrible in the solemn mood of popular mind, that she longed rather to
behold all those rigid countenances contorted with scornful merriment and
herself the object"(54). This implies that Hester's sin of bearing a child
without the presence of a husband will always be remembered.
In the middle of the novel is a transition period where the letter
"A" is viewed differently than before. In this section of the novel,
Hester's appearance is altered to where she is no longer seen as a person
of sin. The letter changes from a symbol of sin to a more vague symbol.
Society now sees Hester as a person who is strong yet bears a symbol which
differs herself. At this point, Hester has learned to deal with the letter.
She has grown stronger from it; she is able to withstand the ...

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insistence that Hester
do what ever it takes to quiet Pearl, force Hester to reaccept the symbol
of the sin she had wrongly divorced, and therefore allow Dimmesdale and
Hester to share a mutual public shame.
When Hester tosses her sin aside in the forest scene, she is not
successful in leaving her sin forever. "The mystic token alighted on the
hither verge of the stream. With a hand's breath further flight it would
have fallen into the water, and have given the little brook another woe to
carry onward . . ." (pg. 185) The brook does not carry off Hester's letter,
and therefore, the disgrace of her sin is still close by. When Hawthorne
says that Hester's new thoughts "have taught ...

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