Why does Nathaniel Hawthorne use symbolism in The Scarlet Letter?

Hawthorne also likely employs symbolism in order to illuminate, more clearly and more visibly, the novel's themes. For example, toward the end of chapter 1, "The Prison Door," Hawthorne introduces two important symbols. The first is the prison, what he calls "the black flower of civilized society." Immediately next to the prison is the second of these two symbols, the "wild rose-bush" which is covered with "delicate gems." He says that it might provide some hope to the prisoner entering the jail that "the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him." The prison itself seems to symbolize society, the Puritans' society specifically, and the way societies try to control human nature, perhaps to the detriment of individuals like Hester and Dimmesdale, and to the detriment of society in general. We are so concerned with rules and punishment that we can lose track of someone's humanity, of our own mercy and compassion.

Further, he continues, "It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow." Nature will not judge us for breaking society's rules; it can pity us and offer us beauty even when we feel we are at our lowest. It is we who judge one another and try to make that judgment appear natural and right, but Nature embraces the individual no matter what.

It could be said that Hawthorne uses symbolism for two major reasons. One is that the use of symbolism creates a heightened effect, rendering the story more memorable with the images of dark and light, good and evil, nature and society, freedom and oppression.

Symbolism also lends the novel an intriguing air of ambiguity, leaving open the possibility of several interpretations. For instance, the forest where Hester meets her secret lover Dimmesdale, is rendered as a dark place of sin from a Puritan viewpoint, but can also represent the freedom and wildness of nature and instinct, released from the severe restrictions of Puritan society. As for the scarlet letter itself, its implications too are various. For the Puritans it is a symbol of shame, but it could also be taken as a positive symbol of Hester's defiance, and so on.

In The Scarlet Letter, how does Nathaniel Hawthorne use symbolism, ambiguity, and allegory?

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses allegory, ambivalence, and symbolism throughout his novel The Scarlet Letter. One passage in which all three of these elements appear together is the following, in which Chillingworth confronts Hester, his adulterous wife:

"Hester," said he, "I ask not wherefore, nor how thou hast fallen into the pit, or say, rather, thou hast ascended to the pedestal of infamy on which I found thee. The reason is not far to seek. It was my folly, and thy weakness. I—a man of thought—the book-worm of great libraries—a man already in decay, having given my best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge—what had I to do with youth and beauty like thine own? Misshapen from my birth-hour, how could I delude myself with the idea that intellectual gifts might veil physical deformity in a young girl's fantasy?

Chillingworth himself explains the allegory of the references to the “pit” and the “pedestal.” In using both images, he suggests a one-to-one correspondence between the image and the meaning.  This kind of very close connection between image and significance is typical of allegory.  Whether he chooses to use the image of the pit or the image of the pedestal, Chillingworth suggests that either image (or both) seem(s) appropriate as a corollary to Hester’s “infamy.” She had fallen morally, and thus entered a spiritual “pit,” but as a result of that fall she had also been forced to stand up on a kind of “pedestal,” so that the consequences of her immorality were visible to everyone.

However, the mere fact that Chillingworth hesitates between the two images helps illustrate Hawthorne’ penchant for ambiguity, for double meanings and complex, suggestive  imprecision.  Similarly ambiguous here is the nature of Chillingworth’s own personality. Is he merely and purely evil, or is he a more complex figure (at least at this point in the story) than that?  Is he sinned against or is he a sinner, or is he something of both?  His very willingness to accept some personal responsibility for Hesther’s fall suggests that he is at that stage of the work a somewhat ambiguous figure – someone for whom we feel a certain degree of sympathy, even if we also mistrust his motives and behavior.

Finally, the selected passage also displays Hawthorne’s interest in symbolism, in which images suggest meanings without offering the one-to-one simplicity and precision of allegory. Thus, when Chillingworth speaks of himself as “a man in decay,” he seems to refer primarily to physical or perhaps mental decay, but the word “decay” also foreshadows and symbolizes what will happen to him morally and spiritually during the course of the novel. His spiritual and moral decay will be far worse than any physical decay he may have suffered. Chillingworth calls himself a “book-worm” – a creature that bores into and through literal physical volumes, leaving paths of destructiveness in its wake. In a sense, Chillingworth will continue to display many of these same symbolic traits as the novel develops: he will bore into the heart and soul of Reverend Dimmesdale, again leaving a highly destructive path.

What symbols does Hawthorne use in The Scarlet Letter and what do they mean?

Hawthorne's use of symbols is so abundant that the only place you really have to search to find 4 is in the first chapter.

Look at the fact that this little prison is in a cemetery. Could you not argue that a term in prison is like a death sentence because you may no longer live freely in a society? Likewise, the door of this prison is made with the heaviest wood and iron, elements also used in the greatest executional instruments made throughout time.

The rosebush next to the door presents the beauty of a rose, the color of both love and blood, and the pain of a thorn. This rosebush represents Hester's life. In fact, the author identifies it as a symbol himself in the last sentence of the chapter:

It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.

The Scarlet Letter A should be your most obvious representative of a symbol because the red A means she's a sinner and an adulterer at that.

I think if you were to look further, you would take a look at Pearl, the Minister, or the Physician. Isn't it interesting how many times Hawthorne gives these characters labels instead of references to their names? Pearl strikes me because to become a pearl takes years of agitation by tiny little grains of sand. So for Pearl to become who she eventually comes seems to take much agitation. You could use most any uncomfortable situation she was in for each of these... including her first moments with her mother on display in the public meeting place.