Comparing the Use of Light and Dark by Melville, Poe, and Hawthorne

Understanding the underlying meaning of symbols in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels is a major key to actually understanding what is occurring in the story itself. There is a multitude of symbols pay attention to in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Out of all these symbols,however, Sunlight stood out. Sunlight plays a tremendous part in showing the emotion in characters, mood of the current situation, and foreshadowing major events that are soon to take place.

Throughout his literary endeavors, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to present a certain theme that pertains to human nature and life. In his works, The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil", Hawthorne uses symbolism to present a common theme pertaining to religion; that though manifested sin will ostracize a person from society, un-confessed sin will destroy the soul.

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were writers of the American gothic genre. They both used the elements of horror and mystery in their writing styles, writing about the dark side of humanity and the evil that lives within the human mind. Gothic writing focuses on the dark side of humanity and both Poe and Hawthorne captured this style well in their use of themes, symbols, and narration that focused on darkness and evil with their characters fighting various psychological issues. However, Poe’s stories are told in the first person narrative and he focuses on one human psychological effect, looking at man’s thoughts from within his mind and how his behavior then affects his surroundings. He also tends to build a sense on impending doom somewhat stronger than Hawthorne. Hawthorne, on the other hand uses the third person and focuses more on how man’s thoughts and behaviors are the results of what is happening around him. His stories also tend to be more of a romantic nature than Poe’s and he tends to create stories of conflicting interpretations to share lessons of life.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most important authors in the history of American literature and the genre of Romanticism or Dark Romanticism, due to his unique style of writing and his focus upon subjects of Puritan religion and the unknown. I consider Hawthorne an important author, due to the fact that he skillfully and accurately based his fictional writings upon happenings of colonial times, was one of the first authors to display unfortunate outcomes for his characters’ immoral choices according to Puritan beliefs, and wrote of things that were considered taboo in his time, such as witchcraft, scientific innovation and experimentation. I strongly believe that Hawthorne’s influence for his writings were his Puritan ancestral background, his fascination with Puritan beliefs, and his interest in what was considered the unknown such as witchcraft and science. According to the Norton Anthology Textbook Vol. B, Nathaniel Hawthorne was “born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804” (370). Hawthorne belonged “to a family whose ancestral roots were tied to Puritan history, with his family being among the first settlers of Massachusetts and having one of his relatives serve as a judge during the Salem witch trials” (370). Hawthorne, as a young boy, “had a particular interest in writings such as John Bunyan’s Puritan allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, and by his mid-teens he took interest in British novelists such as Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollet, William Godwin, and Sir Walter Scott”

      Throughout his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals character through the use of imagery and metaphor.

Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne were arguably some of the most popular writers of the 19th century (Dincer 223; Lauter 2505). All three of them are known for their short essays and their advocacy to make writing a full-fledged and legitimate profession. Their writings show that they were hugely influenced by the Romantic Movement (romanticism); ‘a movement in art, literature, music, philosophy, politics and culture towards focusing on the individual, the subjective, and the spontaneous’ (Dincer 218). Romanticist writing “encouraged contemplation and self-awareness, direct contact with nature, and a focus on and an exploration of inner feelings” (Dincer 223). Yet, they had distinct writing style, focus, and theme. While Irving was more of a light romantic writer, a writing style characterized by optimism, Poe and Hawthorne are widely considered dark romantic Authors whose writings were characterized by pessimism that sees the world as full of dark, evil, suffering, horror, and mystery. While Irving’s writing focused more on satire and humor, Poe & Hawthorne’s writing was more about evil, crime, sin, and mystery. Moreover, Irving seem to be nostalgic aristocrat with huge ‘interest in the landscape, folklore, and the past’ (2506), whereas Poe and Hawthorne had a contrary view of the past (Liptak).

Secondly, both Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne share a very similar tone through their writings that affects the perception of evil in their stories. For example, “And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror”(Poe, 11) represents a nervous, yet saddening tone presented by Allan Poe taking in consideration the repetition of a statement made by the main character in “The Tell-Tale Heart”. As well as Allan Poe, Hawthorne presents a mysterious gloomy tone where the minister’s veil makes the readers question themselves about the main purpose for using the piece of crape. An example of this gloomy and overwhelming mystery tone would be, “When Mr. Hooper came, the first thing that their eyes rested on was the same horrible black veil, which had added deeper gloom to the funeral, and could portend nothing but evil to the wedding” (Hawthorne, 11) letting the readers know that all of the villagers gathered at the funeral disliked the veil, for it only brought more mystery and sadness.

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism in his book The Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is, according to Merriam-Webster, “the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visual or sensuous representations.” This means that the author was using objects to represent an action or idea. The symbols used in his book is either all physical or visible objects. Many of the symbols in the book are about characters.Nathaniel’s ideas came from his bonds with the Puritans. According to CliffsNotes, “the Puritans had great difficulty in loving the sinner and hating the sin”. With the Puritans strong hatred for sin,

Another literary element that Hawthorne utilizes is allusion through symbolism. This is depicted when the story invites a new character: an evil creature that bears a staff in the shape of a black snake. This showcases the author alluding to the story of Adam

I frankly confess that I have as a general thing but little enjoyment of it [allegory] and that it has never seemed to me to be, as it were, a first-rate literary form…it is apt to spoil two good things--a story and a moral; a meaning and a form…. (Hawthorne 23)

The themes that Nathaniel Hawthorne typically wrote about were many including subconscious, loss of innocence, sin, isolation and male withdrawal from marriage, knowledge or perfection, ambiguity,

interested in themselves such as guilt and isolation for themes of his writings. These themes

Several symbols that are found within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, represent a greater idea found outside of the story itself. The uses of symbols throughout the novel portray a truthful version of reality, one that people can relate to and find in their daily lives. He uses symbols found within nature to develop the setting, characters, and mood. The use of light and color play a significant role in depicting the symbolism of the scenery and background of the novel. The forest is a predominant setting that is also symbolic. The forest portrays the character’s psychological state of mind as well as it being a place where one can escape the grim realities of life.

Another aspect of Hawthorne’s ancestors is that they were Puritans. The Puritan belief is finely interwoven in his story. According to Michael E. McCabe, “Puritan doctrine taught that all men are totally depraved and require constant self – examination to see that they are sinners and unworthy of God’s Grace” (1). Brown’s experience in the forest, is, in a sense, not a dream. Instead, Brown is looking deep into his soul in search of the inner evilness and whether he is worthy of “God’s Grace.” The fact that his wife and the holy men of the community are in the forest is more a projection of his own evilness onto others. When he finds Faith’s pink ribbon in the forest, it was as though his least thread of faith was gone, and he cries out,

Many writers decide to have one very clear theme present all throughout their novel. The beginning of the novel usually alludes to this theme and as it progresses it becomes more and clearer and clearer. By the end of the text, the author often binds the fulfilling and satisfying ending of the novel to their theme, which leaves the reader with a true understanding of the complete meaning of the text. Especially for the time of this piece, most writing has this specific style embedded in the text. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his The Scarlet Letter, decides to make an aberration from this seeming norm.