Symbols of The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, takes place in Boston, Massachusetts (Massachusetts Bay Colony), in 1642, during the time of American Puritanism. This is a time where punishments were more harsh than what we have today. Hester Prynne commits adultery, and her punishment is to wear an A on her bosom and stand on a scaffold for three hours every day for the rest of her life, along with …showed first 75 words of 569 total…

…showed last 75 words of 569 total…who, a few years later, was executed, because the Governor has final rule and would put a stop to it. The three symbols that were discussed are the wild rosebush, which symbolizes hope, life and new beginning; the color red, which symbolizes sin and shame; and finally, Governor Bellingham, who symbolizes hypocrisy. These are the symbols that "jumped out" from Hawthorne's novel. He used symbols in this novel for people to learn something from them.