Set in seventeenth-century Boston, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is abotu consquences of hidden and open sin. Hester Prynne commits adultery against her husband with Arthur Dimmesdale, a young clergyman. As part of her punishment, Hester is required to wear a red "A" everyday. Hawthorne uses symbolism throughout the novel to depict the Puritan views, the views of the adulterers, and the contrasting views of the people in the community. He exhibits these viewa through symbolism in the letter "A", objects, the three scaffold scenes, the forest scene, and the characters. Hawthorne uses symbolism through the lette