Pillars of Metaphorical Ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter Among the multiplicity of arcane elements hidden beneath the words in Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," none are so obvious, yet surprisingly subtle for the reader's perception and consumption of characterization versus the allegorical play on words within character names. Both the protagonist and her rival within the plot are lucky enough to have appropriately appropriate and suitable names. The four pillars that support this novel are all cloaked in foreboding names, silently leading the reader to understand what traits and meaning the character possesses as the story unfolds. These pillars that consolidate the novel are Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl. The first pillar, perhaps the strongest, in support of the evolution of the novel's themes is Hester Prynne. Hester is the young woman who is abandoned by her older, disfigured husband, and falls in love with a passionately God-fearing young man who subsequently conceives a child, thus revealing his "adultery" and is punished by the Puritan society he represents. . She is told to wear a red letter, hence the title of the book. Through his punishment, he acquires and applies several motifs that the novel boasts of, the most powerful of which is perpetually depicted throughout the story, sin. Apparently, in an attempt to emphasize her significance and the origin of decisions in the story, Hawthorne cleverly gave this woman who the story revolves around the name Hester Prynne, conveniently in sync with the word she constantly deals with: sin . His surname, which rhymes with the word is no mistake, and though subtle in its existence, is ingenious in its implications, and an almost...... middle of paper ......r Dimmesdale divulges the less than shining qualities which the young minister displayed in his lack of resolve and spirit. Finally, Pearl involves the costly and regrettable outcome of a debacle that was ironically conceived with affection and tender ardor. The intricate constituents of this infinite metaphor of a novel would vaporize without concrete, stationary components that solidify the plot and stimulate its growth, each responsive to and influential on the other. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" would crumble into an insipid multifaceted pile of a couple of plot twists, monotonous characters, juvenile prose and a pile of old papers from Hawthorne's basement that would never have reached the new millennium without those four pillars of life. metaphorical ambiguity. Work cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Ed. Brian Harding. Oxford: Oxford 1990.