Sunshine

For my essay on the Scarlet Letter, I plan to display how sunshine is portrayed upon different characters in the novel. The sun is a disregarded factor in the story, though it is the basis for looking deeper into oneself in this story. "But, on one side of the portal and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems... This rose bush by strange chance, has been kept alive in history." The sunshine is what allows this bit of beauty to thrive in such a miserable world. In each of the characters, at different times, we see them acknowledge the sunshine as more than a light. It comes to portray when nature is happy with their actions or not. "No, my little Pearl!" said her mother. "Though must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!"We notice that the sun shines on Pearl quite often, but, for the most part, hardly on Hester. Hawthorne writes that after Hester removes the lettering the forest with Dimmesdale, "All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now." This can be interpreted to mean that nature is finally pleased with Hester. A load of shame is released and she can finally feel light and freedom. I want to uncover the reasons for the sunshine and how it affects the characters.