The Scarlet LetterAfter Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of America, people flocked to America in search of a new life. One of these groups were the Puritans, who fled England due to persecution by the crown. The Puritans were known for their extreme devotion to religion and their goal of turning their community into a "city on a hill." This idea of ​​a city on a hill shows how they want everyone to look up to them, but this also means that all their actions would be elevated and amplified. This reflects the strict rules and harsh punishments that are carved deep into their society. Crimes such as adultery could be punishable by death. Two hundred years after the initial settlement of the Puritans, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who lives in one of the first settlements in America and who has a story of coming to America similar to that of other Puritans of her time, until is found guilty. of adultery. The Scarlet Letter may seem like a simple story of a Puritan woman living in America during the early stages of the New World, but in reality this is not true. Hawthorne's use of symbolism through the appearance and setting of characters to show the mood and feelings of individuals in The Scarlet Letter makes the story much more complex and meaningful than an author simply writing a story about a Puritan woman. This interpretation of The Scarlet Letter can be compared to The Obliquity of Signs: The Scarlet Letter written by Millicent Bell. The setting contributes greatly to the meaning of The Scarlet Letter. One of the key locations in the book is the scaffolding. The first paragraph of chapter two reads: “The mildest and most severe acts of public… middle of the paper… it is impossible to assume that any one interpretation is correct when everyone understands things differently. It is obvious that there are an infinite amount of small details and signs integrated into The Scarlet Letter, and it is impossible to find and rationalize them correctly because everyone is able to see different interpretations of the same story. This is what makes The Scarlet Letter considered such a great work. The Scarlet Letter is incredibly complex because of Hawthorne's use of the presence and position of characters. Other authors such as Millicent Bell write articles such as The Obliquity of Signs as an attempt to justify all the events in Hawthorne's novel in an attempt to better understand the work, but in reality these interpretations help people understand their own interpretation of events rather than this which was expected.