Importance of the Meteor in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Importance of the meteoroid in The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthornes novel, The Scarlet Letter, is considered by many to be a masterpiece. It was a culmination of everything Hawthorne experienced in his life. He grew up in a household that held fast to Puritan ideals. This affected him in ways he himself may not have even realized. Nathaniel Hawthorne displace many undercurrents of meaning in this novel(Tucker 16). At the climax of the story, a meteor flashes through the night sky. The appearance of this meteor at this exceptional moment in time contributes to the plot in many ways. First, sacred Dimsdale thinks the meteor is a message from God specifically for him. Nothing was much common in those days than to interpret all meteoric appearances, and opposite natural phenomena that occurred with less regularity than the rise and set of the sun and moon, as so many revelations from a supernatural source(149). Any soulfulness of that day would have assumed that someth ing of that nature applied to some fate of his or her life. Then, and there, before the judgment seat, thy mother, and thou, and I, must tolerate together. But the solar day of this world shall not see our meeting(149) Just after those speech communication leave Reverend Dimsdales mouth, the meteor weightlessnesss up the sky as scintillating as day. Its as if God is proving Reverend Dimsdales words to be false. The light of the meteor resembles the letter A to Reverend Dimsdale because his conscience is pricking at him. Subconsciencely he wants to punish himself for his offense since the townspeople cant punish him for a sin of which they were unaware. Therefore, his guilty feelings twist a natural part of creation into a punishment of sorts. He believed the meteor resembled the letter A to convict him elevate of his sinfulness. ...a great red letter in the sky-the letter A which we interpret to stand for Angel. For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night, it was undoubtedly held fit that there should be some notice thereof(153). The occurrence that a member of his congregation also believes that the meteor resembles the letter A is ironic because of his belief that it stands for Angel in honor of the departed governor rather than something with a negative connotation. The mind can make superstar event appear as something to one person while other person observing the same event will consider it the spot opposite of the first.