The “Black Man” Finally Appears

Hello again my fellow bloggers, readers, and visitors to The Scarlet Reader. I have decided to examine today the symbolism and the story behind the Black Man in the Scarlet Letter. As the week has progressed, I have tried to draw connections between The Crucible and the Scarlet Letter and I have found many similarities that could connect the two books together. They are connected through objects such as the black book, and the idea of the devil and evil.

The Black Man is a symbol for Satan in this book, and Hester considers the scarlet letter “A” to be the Black Man’s mark on herself. At the same time, Pearl wonders if the Black Man left his mark on Dimmesdale’s heart as well, because she notices that he grasps it quite often. Hawthorne loves to compare Chillingworth to Satan as well. Chillingworth has been seen in the town both as a leach and as something more than evil, so it is no surprise that when this Black Man appears, Chillingworth is the first to be compared to him. But don’t you find it coincidental that Pearl says that the Black Man comes to make people sign his black book, while in The Crucible, we see young girls accuse innocent people in the town of signing the black book? The Puritans believed during this time period that witches and the devil were prominent in their society, so whenever something horrible went wrong, they would automatically accuse that person of being a witch, or being influenced by the devil. The Puritans like to use the Black Man as a symbol of all evil, making evil something separate from common human life. But, it seems as though Hawthorne does not agree with that statement.

Hawthorne, I believe, looks at the Black Man as someone who has set its mark on society in a positive way, and these marks are symbols of something good in society. These symbols I am referring to are the letter “A” on Hester’s dress and the unknown symbol on Dimmesdale’s chest. Both Hester and Dimmesdale committed a sin that for that time period was punishable, but I think Hawthorne looks at them as examples of how to accept sin and move on. The Black Man is nothing more than a representation of that sin and the mark that it has had on people’s lives. Society, on the other hand, looks at the Black Man as being the symbol of all evil and the devil, as seen through the comparison to Chillingworth. But in reality, he is nothing more than a mark on society.

So, I leave you all with this; to you, does the Black Man represent something more than just evil, or do you believe that it is up to you as the reader to distinguish whether the Black Man represents something good in society? To me, I think that he is a representation of people who dare to be something greater in life, people who go their own path and do what their heart desires. These are the people in life who will be most respected and most loved just like Hester Prynne is with the scarlet letter.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.

Roses and The Scarlet Letter

Ian Coyne

Coyneandbill

The Scarlett Reader

This post focuses on the use of roses displayed in ch. 5-8

Roses and The Scarlet Letter

The color red sure is a key part of The Scarlet Letter. Heck, it’s even in the name of the book! Though it may seem that the scarlet letter itself is the only important red thing in the book, I believe there is something else that has been hinted at since the first few pages. That thing would be roses, which have a tendency of cropping up every few chapters or so. But why does Hawthorne include them? What is he trying to say? I believe I have an answer to both of those questions.

First, let’s define a rose. A rose is a red flower that grows in rose bushes. It’s popular for its beauty as well as its color, but it also has thorns along its stem, a less popular attribute. In the context of The Scarlett Letter, some parallels between roses and the story begin to appear. Hester, much like a rose, is defined (at least by others) by the most prominent physical characteristic: the red letter on her dress. But, just below the surface, she is a complicated individual who is staunch in her beliefs, much like the much-overlooked thorns of a rose. Despite being mostly negative, it is undeniable that Hester shares a popularity, or rather infamy, in the Puritan community, much like a rose’s popularity amongst lovers.

However, Hester is not the only one that can be likened to a rose in The Scarlet Letter. Her daughter, Pearl, has been compared to one as well, like when she “began to cry for a red rose” (Hawthorne, 98) and told Dimmesdale that her mother found her in a “bush of wild roses near the prison door” (Hawthorne, 104). Further comparisons to Pearl and a rose are drawn when she is entirely dressed in red when she is take to the governor’s mansion. These comparisons further show that Pearl is much like the “rose” that her mother is. She is defined by the tincture of her mother’s sin, but below the surface she is intelligent and resistant to opposition.

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/29600000/roses-roses-29610910-1920-1200

SOURCES

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Custom House.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 52. Print.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Governor’s Hall.” The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003. 63. Print.