Letter: Chapter 1 Analysis

Written by Anon

In chapter one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter , Hawthorne describes the growing rose bush near the Puritan town’s jail. The description of the bush with respect to its setting and physical characteristics symbolize the harsh beliefs shaping Puritan life and character. The bush is “rooted almost at the threshold” of the prison door and is covered with “delicate gems”, lending “fragrance and fragile beauty” (40). The presence of nature’s delicate and graceful beauty at the threshold of society’s “black flower” as described by Hawthorne illustrates the Puritans’ belief of punishment being synonymous with purification (40). According to the Puritans’ beliefs, in the eyes of god the sinful are ugly and deformed and the purified are beautiful and perfect. The Puritans’ main goal is to cultivate a pure society to gain God’s grace, and the prison serves as an edifice dedicated to achieving the goal. Because the rose bush’s physical characteristics symbolize the qualities of the pure, it is rooted at the prison’s entrance to signify the goal of the prison, to become a “rose” in the eyes of god through harsh and  purifying punishment. Ultimately, Hawthorne uses the rose bush’s description to portray the strict dedication to purification, even by harshness, as a defining feature of Puritan life and character.In chapter one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter , Hawthorne describes the growing rose bush near the Puritan town’s jail. The description of the bush with respect to its setting and physical characteristics symbolize the harsh beliefs shaping Puritan life and character. The bush is “rooted almost at the threshold” of the prison door and is covered with “delicate gems”, lending “fragrance and fragile beauty” (40). The presence of nature’s delicate and graceful beauty at the threshold of society’s “black flower” as described by Hawthorne illustrates the Puritans’ belief of punishment being synonymous with purification (40). According to the Puritans’ beliefs, in the eyes of god the sinful are ugly and deformed and the purified are beautiful and perfect. The Puritans’ main goal is to cultivate a pure society to gain God’s grace, and the prison serves as an edifice dedicated to achieving the goal. Because the rose bush’s physical characteristics symbolize the qualities of the pure, it is rooted at the prison’s entrance to signify the goal of the prison, to become a “rose” in the eyes of god through harsh and  purifying punishment. Ultimately, Hawthorne uses the rose bush’s description to portray the strict dedication to purification, even by harshness, as a defining feature of Puritan life and character.