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of meaning; it is simply itself, and it stands for something other than itself. In other words, a symbol is a way of telling a story and a way of convening meaning. Hawthorne was a master of symbolism. For example, the scarlet letter “A” on Hester’s bosom can give us symbolic meanings, such as “Adultery”, “Able”, “Admirable”, and “Angel” (Li Cuiting, 1998: 224-225). In addition to the wildly quoted example concerning the symbolic way of writing to represent the loneliness and alienation of the four characters.
First, the settings were described with symbolic meanings. In the first scaffold scene, Hester was standing on the scaffold aloft and far away from the crowd and the physical distance here manifested an internal alienation. Later Hester resided in a small cottage which was abandoned by an earlier settler. The cottage was located on the outskirts of the town, and there were no other habitations around. The detailed descriptions about the little and lonesome dwelling suggested that Hester was isolated from the community. Whenever Hester appeared, there was wide space separating her from other citizens. ‘As was usually the case wherever Hester stood, a small vacant area-a sort of magic-had formed itself about her, into which though the people were elbowing one another at a little distance, one ventured, of felt disposed to intrude’(Nathaniel, Hawthorne.1996:198). The fact that Hester stood in a circle and others kept apart was a typical symbol of Hester’s solitude. Sunshine always symbolizes love and warmth whereas darkness is an emblem of alienation and loneliness in literary works. In the governor’s hall, ‘the shadow of the curtain fell on Hester Prynne, and partially concealed her’ (Nathaniel, Hawthorne.1996: 66). In the forest, pearl accompanied her mother and jumped in the sunshine. Curiously, the sunshine seemed to shun Hester. When she attempted to gap some of the sunshine’s, it vanished. Here the striking contrasts between pearl who happily romped in the sunshine and Hester upon whom the shadow fell also implied Hester’s loneliness.
Second, the names of the four characters also expressed extra meanings. “Hest” means “to command” and “pry” means “to inquire too cautiously”. The name “Hester Prynne” predicts that Hester would live with endless inquiries from the public about her secret sin, and therefore she would be an unreliable outsider instead of a trustworthy member of the community. There is another explanation and hastier refers to the kitchen goddess in the Greek mythology. “Prynne” sounds like “purifying” (Tina Junwu, 1999:100). So the name “Hester Prynne” can be understood as a goddess with a purified mind, who does not belong to the human world. Both explanations of the name “Hester Prynne” are acceptable and they tell in advance that Hester would suffer isolation and alienation. The wronged husband took a false name Roger Chillingworth and asked his wife to keep the secret about his identity. “Roger” is phonetically close to “rogue” meaning scoundrel and rascal. “Chill” means “the unpleasant felling of coldness” and “chilling” means “frightening”. “Worth” is the approximate homophone of “worse” (Tian Junwu, 1999: 102). Therefore the name “Roger Chillingworth” may refer to a frightening devil. As his name suggested, Chillingworth was a man deficient in human warmth. The loss of identity and the lack of human affection symbolized his isolation from the townspeople. The minister was called Arthur Dimmesdale. “dim