Nature. It's a word that seems so expansive and all-encompassing. Within a novel, elements of nature and setting often become so expected and banal that they are easily glossed over to get to the "more important" elements of a story: the plot, characters, and events. Occasionally, however, an author makes calculated and blatant references to the setting, thus bringing the background to the foreground. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, several plants serve to symbolize the characters in their actions and their attachment to the community, a representation almost unachievable if they were described with simple words. By comparing Hester in the first chapter to the rose bush that grows just inside the prison door, Hawthorne implies that Hester possesses all the qualities commonly associated with the flower without ever having to reveal her personality through conventional forms of display. Furthermore, Hawthorne proceeds to compare Dimmesdale to the black weeds growing from a grave just outside his window. Subtly different from the comparisons between Hester and Dimmesdale, the author chooses a unique flower to exemplify the enigmatic Pearl: water grass. Using this symbolism, Hawthorne creates a parallel dimension between the plants and the characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A rose, perhaps the most basic and simplistic image, embodies a wealth of connotations. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne continually and indirectly connects Hester to this very distinct flower through the juxtaposition of his description closely followed by hers. The wild rose bush exists as a "vigorous plant," often able to "withstand even the most severe frosts" (Audubon Society). Although this plant grows spontaneously in nature, many people try to cultivate it for its resistance to environmental resistance such as drought and frost. Like the rose bush, Hester displays a strength that resists the pressures of her environment, namely the citizens of Puritan Boston. Despite the ministers' threats against her "peace of soul" and "salvation," Hester attests that she will never reveal the identity of her adulterous companion, resolutely agreeing to "bear his agony as well as [her own]" (53 , 54) . Although its flowers can survive frost, rose petals are vibrantly colored and delicately intricate in their arrangement. Like these petals, Hester possesses many beautiful qualities ranging from her delicate talent in embroidery to the "generosity and charity of her heart" in her community (Ringe 90). She is a woman of many layers: at times feminist, servant, punished, liberated. Her beauty, both inner and outer, allows her to be the rose among the “burdock, the weed…and such unsightly vegetation” that surrounds her (Hawthorne 41). Along with this indisputable beauty, however, lies a necessary consequence that is much less attractive than the flower and, once touched, generates painful repercussions: thorns. Although Hester is committed to serving her community and becoming a good citizen, deep within her lies a passion and stubbornness that can be considered her tragic flaw. This “passionate nature inevitably leads her to sin” with Dimmesdale, initiating punishments that will haunt her throughout her life (Ringe 90). Through both positive and negative attributes, Hawthorne aptly compares Hester to a rose bush: physically tough, aesthetically appealing, but dangerously thorny. During Chillingworth's stay with the ailing Reverend Dimmesdale, the doctorShe often collects various specimens of weeds and herbs from the nearby forest, possessing impressive botanical knowledge. Using once again the subtle method of indirect comparison, Hawthorne links Dimmesdale to one of these leafy discoveries. When asked by the minister regarding the original location of the "unpleasant plant", Chillingworth responds that it locally arose from an unmarked grave, but that its roots lie deep in the heart of a man with a "hideous secret that was buried with him" (94). Presenting both the physical heart and the concept of dying with a guilty conscience strikes a deep chord in Dimmesdale. During the novel's stressful moments, the young minister "holds his hand over his heart," thus further emphasizing that connection (126). Furthermore, like the plant itself, all of Dimmesdale's actions (and inactions) are grounded in and take root in a guilty heart due to his unwillingness to confess. The appearance of the "dark, flaccid leaf" is also reminiscent of the sickly minister (94). Evidently this weed is suffering from poor health, perhaps even near death, due to its environment: lack of water, nutrients, sunlight, etc. Likewise, Dimmesdale's "form has become emaciated," his sonorous voice possesses a tinge of "decay," and his face often becomes "flushed" with a "pallor, indicative of sorrow" (87). Beyond these somewhat concrete qualities of the plant lies an interesting recognition: despite Chillingworth's vast knowledge and interest in botany, this weed sprouting from the graves is "new to [him]" (94). Likewise, Chillingworth continually searches for Hester's sinning companion, but that sinner's (Dimmesdale) identity is not yet confirmed to Chillingworth at this point in the novel. Through the subtle connections such as the foundation in the heart, the sickly appearance and the unknown origin, Hawthorne creates an unmistakable comparison between the black weed and Dimmesdale. When Hester meets Pearl playing in the tide pool, she discovers that Pearl has created a "barely green" letter A out of sea grass to fashion into the dress. Here Hawthorne makes only a brief, if lasting, reference to this organic representation. Eelgrass, a pure water aquatic grass, grows from the sand below the water level but its flowers actually float on the surface of the water (Audubon). Somewhat unique in nature, this plant survives in both worlds: the aquatic and the terrestrial, no more belonging to one than the other, but rather drifting somewhere between the two. Likewise, Pearl never quite takes on the black-and-white characteristics of being angelic or demonic, “treasure” or “emblem of sin” (67, 70). The female flower reaches the water surface on a twisted, jagged stem. This twisted stem results from the wavy current of water while the plant is still forming. Like this sinuous stem that exists as a product of its environment, Pearl also reveals the stress and confusion of her childhood in her behavior. Because “Pearl was born an outcast…she had no right among the baptized children,” she developed a strange and pronounced animosity toward them (70). His mischievous and evil tendencies have strayed from the direct and moral path he should follow. Beyond its actual growth, eelgrass is an incredibly "vigorous grower and not suited to the average water garden" but is much better suited to "natural growth, uninhibited by artificial environments" (www.botany.com). Pearl develops remarkable evaluation and understanding skills; in fact, the age at which he was capable of social interaction came early, and with "strange rapidity" (70). Also due to overly rigid codes and closed-mindedness, the environment.