The Scarlet Letter: A Symbolic Narration After reading any type of book or story, the reader may sit and think about how the book was written. For example, you might consider the style, genre, and origins of the book. In this case, after reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I thought about how this great author created such an exceptional work of literature that we still read some 160 years later. What I found was that this is simply a well-written and thought-provoking piece of symbolic fiction. It is interesting to carefully look at the way Hawthorne uses symbols to convey his messages to the reader. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses symbols to better support his main ideas or other points of interest. Exploring this book inside and out there are many objects, characters and figures or colors that are used to indicate abstract thoughts or concepts. For example, the scarlet letter itself is one of Hawthorne's shining symbols. The meteor, the pearl and the rose bush next to the prison are also part of Hawthorne's emblematic writings. In the next piece of text I will further describe these extremely intellectual symbols that Nathaniel Hawthorne used in The Scarlet Letter. The first of these symbols is the scarlet letter itself. The scarlet letter is a different type of symbol from others because it is known to everyone that the scarlet letter is a symbol. It is the symbol of the humiliation and dishonor that the citizens have heaped upon Hester Prynne. Initially this richly decorated piece was supposed to symbolize the "adulterer". Soon, however, the meaning of the scarlet letter changes, as do its meaning and implications. At first it is even difficult for her to live with it. As told when he goes to visit Governor Bellingham and sees himself in armor, the letter takes up a lot of his image and this is basically a symbol of how he feels in life. While this seems like the worst possible punishment for Hester, it really isn't. What makes it so bad is that the letter serves, as a physical punishment and reminder, like a pearl, for her relationship with Dimmesdale. At the same time, however, compared to a child, the letter seems trivial, and helps make Hester understand that the letter doesn't really matter...