“What do we talk of mark and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown, or the flesh of her forehead?” cried another female, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die….” The The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an intriguing book because of a beautiful woman, Hester Prynne, an adulteress which is only sentenced to wear the scarlet letter “A” symbolic of her sin placed on her bosom. That stays under the child brought forth due to the dastardly sin. That which hence the irony of the novel. Also the symbolism of book that opens doors in your mind and gives new meanings to common things. Lastly the protagonist portrayed by the lionhearted independent Hester Prynn. All three aspects that bring this novel alive.

Irony, the satire the two faced hypocrites all which set a readers mind in aw. The Scarlet Letter brings out irony in its entirety. The fact that the man who first prosecutes hers with all sincerity, “…I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee on thy pedestal of shame,…” All which said from the fellow-sinner himself. Wow!, the perfect example of irony at its best.

The Figurative nature of this book gives readers a new way of looking at things. When Hawthorne uses symbolism in this book he lets the reader contemplate Hawthorne’s way of seeing things. Such as the oppression of society’s laws shown by the prison, and the rosebush that grows outside the prison door that could represent flowing human spirits in malice of the oppression.

Hester Prynne show extreme power and independence as the main character in this novel. She raises her child Pearl with her own intuition knowing the child is somewhat a damper in puritan society. When threatened to loose Pearl she fights back with no true defense but her love and maternal want for the child, “God gave me the child!” cried she. “He gave her in requital of all things else, which ye had taken from me. She I my happiness!----she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life!…” A fearless mother and a bold female figure.

This masterpiece by Hawthorne is a gift to the world and a literary phenomenon. The Scarlet Letter holds many aspects of different nature. These three clearly show what makes the book memorable.

By. Wil Pedigo