Light and Darkness in the Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"

        Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is one of the most analyzed and most discussed literary works in American literature and for good reason. Hawthorne's ambiguity and his intense use of symbols have made this work incredibly complex and incredibly bothersome. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many symbols to give insight into characters and promote his views on society. The scaffold scenes in The Scarlet Letter tell the reader exactly what is to come, …

…It is interesting how this seems to diverge from the contemporary stereotypes of light and darkness. Contemporary stereotypes would suggest that truth is light and darkness is deceit. These contemporary stereotypes are illustrated with death in horror movies appearing only at night and with angels and gods in books appearing in a burst of light. The way that Hawthorne flips this stereotype and creates a novel in which light is a disguise is utterly amazing.