Rose Bushes

Written by Anon

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, thick, unruly vegetation is described in front of the prison in stark contrast to the beautiful rose bushes in chapter one, “The Prison-Door”. The “unsightly vegetation” thrives on the very soil upon which the prison, “... the black flower of civilized society…”, is necessarily built by the Puritan founders (54-55). The fact that the vegetation grows within such close proximity to where the evils of society are harbored shows the symbolic significance of the symbol; this vegetation symbolizes the corruption of this Puritan society and its theocracy, as it is as unsightly and unruly as the sins the people of Boston commit. Additionally, the excessive, unkempt vegetation shows the Puritans’ tendency to make people more averse to sin and the negative aspects of society through publicizing the punishments of wrongdoers. The fact that the disorderly grass plot is left to dirty the scene of the prison shows the public that the prison is a dark, dreary, and demeaning place.In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, thick, unruly vegetation is described in front of the prison in stark contrast to the beautiful rose bushes in chapter one, “The Prison-Door”. The “unsightly vegetation” thrives on the very soil upon which the prison, “... the black flower of civilized society…”, is necessarily built by the Puritan founders (54-55). The fact that the vegetation grows within such close proximity to where the evils of society are harbored shows the symbolic significance of the symbol; this vegetation symbolizes the corruption of this Puritan society and its theocracy, as it is as unsightly and unruly as the sins the people of Boston commit. Additionally, the excessive, unkempt vegetation shows the Puritans’ tendency to make people more averse to sin and the negative aspects of society through publicizing the punishments of wrongdoers. The fact that the disorderly grass plot is left to dirty the scene of the prison shows the public that the prison is a dark, dreary, and demeaning place.