19 The Scarlet Letter

 

The following passage is from the opening of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. Annotate the passage using the three-step process we have described.

From The Scarlet Letter

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes. The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison. In accordance with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house, somewhere in the vicinity of Cornhill, almost as seasonably as they marked out the first burial[1]ground, on Isaac Johnson’s lot, and round about his grave, which subsequently became the nucleus of all the congregated sepulchres in the old church-yard of King’s Chapel. Certain it is, that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indi[1]cations of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than any thing else in the new world. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found some[1]thing congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. 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, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him. This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, — or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door, — we shall not take upon us to determine. Finding it so directly on the threshold of our narrative, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do otherwise than pluck one of its flowers and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow. [1850]

 

 

Step 1: Comprehension (Understanding the Passage)

This excerpt from The Scarlet Letter describes the somber setting of a Puritan colony, focusing on the prison and its symbolic elements. Hawthorne contrasts the harsh, unforgiving nature of Puritan society (symbolized by the prison and its iron spikes) with the unexpected presence of a wild rosebush near the prison door, which represents nature’s pity and kindness. He also references Ann Hutchinson, a historical figure known for challenging Puritan beliefs, adding a layer of historical context. The passage foreshadows the novel’s themes of sin, punishment, and redemption.

Step 2: Analysis (Examining Literary Devices and Themes)

• Imagery & Contrast: The prison, described as “gloomy” and “beetle-browed,” represents judgment and punishment, while the rosebush offers a contrasting image of beauty and hope.
• Symbolism:
• The prison symbolizes the rigid laws and moral strictness of Puritan society.
• The cemetery represents the inevitability of death, showing that the community prioritizes punishment and burial early on.
• The rosebush near the prison door symbolizes mercy, hope, and the resilience of nature in the face of harsh human institutions.
• Allusion: The mention of Ann Hutchinson connects the story to real historical struggles against religious intolerance.
• Foreshadowing: The narrator plucking a rose for the reader suggests that the story will contain both dark and hopeful elements, setting the tone for the novel’s moral exploration.

Step 3: Interpretation (Making Connections and Drawing Conclusions)

Hawthorne’s introduction sets up The Scarlet Letter as a critique of Puritanical judgment and hypocrisy. The passage suggests that while society imposes harsh punishments, nature (symbolized by the rosebush) offers a form of grace. This contrast between law and compassion is central to the novel, as it explores themes of sin, guilt, and redemption. The imagery of the prison and the cemetery underscores the strict, unforgiving nature of Puritan society, which punishes wrongdoing severely and swiftly. At the same time, the rosebush’s presence hints at the possibility of forgiveness and beauty amid suffering.