Sunshine and Darkness

Utilized as the classic metaphor, light and dark represents good and evil. However, in his book, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne\'s usage of light and dark as a metaphor is an aberration from the classic. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses sunlight and darkness in recurring events. He plays with his words carefully, adding underlying symbolism in order to make the unfolding of the plot more complex and intricate. Sunlight exemplifies passion or love, and …

…be compared that of a \"flood.\" The sunshine and darkness signify the moral Puritanical values of honesty and communicate the ambiguous idea of love. Through the use of recurring events containing symbolism, Hawthorne enhances his writing by giving the plot of the novel a more intimate message than just a simple love story. Symbolism caused readers to see beyond just the words and come to an understanding of the feelings being conveyed by the author.