The Scarlet Letter: Platform Of Sin “This scaffold constituted a portion of a penal machine . . . . The very ideal of ignominy was embodied and made manifest in this contrivance of wood and iron” (Hawthorne 62-63). A scaffold's effect on the novel can be seen through an examination of the first, second, and third scaffold scenes. These sections mark the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. The novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is constructed around a scaffold, which provides the story with a constant reminder of sin. The first scaffold scene sets the stage for the novel; it establishes who the main characters are, and