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 burialground,

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 indications

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 something

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: Summary

The passage describes a scene in front of a wooden prison-house in a new colony, presumably Boston. The crowd gathered outside includes men and women, dressed in somber clothing, indicating a solemn occasion. The narrator reflects on the establishment of the prison and cemetery as essential components of the colony's infrastructure. The description of the prison's weathered appearance and surrounding vegetation contrasts with the delicate beauty of a wild rose-bush growing nearby.

Step 2: Language and Literary Devices

Imagery: The passage uses vivid imagery to depict the setting, including descriptions of the wooden prison-house, its weathered appearance, and the overgrown grass-plot. The contrast between the bleakness of the prison and the delicate beauty of the wild rose-bush creates a powerful visual contrast.

Symbolism: The wild rose-bush symbolizes nature's capacity for compassion and beauty amidst human suffering and confinement. It serves as a poignant reminder of hope and redemption in an otherwise bleak landscape.

Allusion: The reference to the "sainted Ann Hutchinson" and the suggestion that the rose-bush may have sprung up under her footsteps alludes to historical events and figures associated with the early colonization of New England, adding depth and context to the narrative.

Personification: The description of the rose-bush offering its fragrance and beauty to the prisoner and condemned criminal personifies nature's ability to empathize and show kindness, enhancing the thematic exploration of compassion and redemption.

Step 3: Interpreting the Passage

The passage sets the tone for Nathaniel Hawthorne's exploration of themes such as sin, guilt, redemption, and the human condition in "The Scarlet Letter." Through the juxtaposition of the prison's grim reality with the beauty of the wild rose-bush, Hawthorne suggests that even in the darkest moments, there is hope for forgiveness and renewal. The symbolism of the rose-bush as a moral emblem invites readers to contemplate the complexities of human frailty and the possibility of redemption in the face of adversity. Additionally, the passage introduces historical and cultural context, enriching the narrative with layers of meaning and depth.