Nathaniel Hawthorne's Use of Symbolism

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Nathaniel Hawthorne is a prominent writer who uses many different elements in his works. He uses elements such as symbolism, figurative language, metaphor, irony and etc. to make his work prominent. In the works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he uses symbols for secret sin in The Scarlet Letter, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” and “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment.”

As seen in The Scarlet letter, the symbol for secret sin is the Scarlet letter “A.” The “A” represents the sin in which Hester commits adultery with the town’s minister, Dimmesdale. One example of secret sin is when Hester first walks out of prison; for the first time she wore the letter “A” on her breast to show her crime. The “A” very well represents her secret sin. Even Dimmesdale curves an “A” on his chest to represents his secret sin as ...

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