Tone In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

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The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne is a successful writer of many books, but through his book The Scarlet Letter he clearly portrays a disliking and disgust towards the puritans and their way of life. He shows this throughout the book by using tone, symbolism, and selection to detail. The first way Hawthorne shows he dislikes the puritans is through his tone in the book. A good example of this is when he said, "being of the most intolerant brood" (86) this shows how he thought the puritans were portrayed. When the village discovered Hester and Pearl, the village immediately reacted with hatred and judgement. This is illustrated when the author says, "scorned them in their hearts, and...reviled them with their tongues" (86) this also shows how the puritans act when something happens they don’t agree with. The tone used by hawthorn clearly shows how much he dislikes the puritans. …show more content…

For example When Hester and Pearl are walking in one scene the sun shines on Pearl, but as Hester moves the sun goes away from her. Hawthorne is showing us that just because Pearl was made from something wrong doesn’t mean she is a bad person. But Hawthorne also shows the audience how the puritans thought she wasn’t worthy of anything and god doesn’t lover her. The Puritans feel as if they are perfect though even though they’re not which contributes to Hawthorns feelings towards them. The second use of symbolism is with the rose bush. The rose bush represents how though there is a lot of evil and bad things happening in the world through the thorns, but the flowers represent the good and purity that is also present. Hawthorne feels that even though the puritans are bad people pearl is

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