More specifically, light is seen as a symbol of purity, much like the white dress at a wedding. Alternatively, darkness is generally associated with evil behavior and impure actions. These ideas are very similar to the way Hawthorne portrays light (the sun, day) and darkness (night, the moon). For example, when Hester enters the forest with Pearl, Pearl immediately finds the sunlight, while Hester is repelled by the sun. Pearl makes an important observation that "sunlight loves you not. It runs away and hides, because it is afraid of something on your breast" (Hawthorne 167). Because Hester has sinned and is no longer pure in the eyes of society, she is shunned by the sun. To further the point, right after when Hester and Dimmsdale are conversing, Hester throws away her scarlet letter as she is throwing the letter to the ground, it can be thought of as her sin being thrown away. After doing so, “the sun broke through, pouring a flood into the dark forest” (Hawthorne 186). when she is free from sin. All this to say that the sun, like a human being, makes decisions. In this case, the decision would be to either honor you with his presence or refrain from doing so