Symbols in The Scarlet LetterSymbolism plays an important role in many novels. Held with the distinction of implying important themes, symbols add depth to a story. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1640s. Embellished with hidden symbols and themes, the novel tells "a story of human frailty and sorrow" (Hawthorne 46). In addition to human flaws and sadness, the novel reveals inhumane punishments and torture by the government and citizens of Puritan society. All of these topics are given deeper meaning through symbols. These symbols help manifest the nuances of man versus nature. The rose bush, the prison, the scaffold and the stream represent complex and essential symbols in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne first presents two symbols, the rosebush and the prison, to the reader. According to Bloom, "the rose bush represents the spontaneous and irrepressible life of nature and instinct, while the prison door represents the harsh limitations that must be imposed on nature to maintain order in human societies" ( 13). Since the rosebush is so close to the prison, one could interpret coexistence as a kind of yin and yang. It also implies that where evil and corruption reside, purity and native morality will follow. Representing everything that is good-natured, the rosebush seems to “symbolize a gentle moral flowering…”. . . or relieve the dark end of a story of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46). In contrast, the prison is described as “the black flower of civilized society” (46), revealed shortly after the innocent rosebush. Hawthorne also describes the prison as "worn out", but the Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony only fifteen years ago, which implies a certain irony. The fact that the prison appears so ancient is a direct result of the incessant use to which it is subjected. These contrasting elements symbolize the struggle between nature and civilization and represent the conflict throughout history. In other words, “these two symbols can be said to represent the two great impersonal forces that come into conflict in the novel” (Bloom 13). The scaffold symbolizes the isolation of the condemned. Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale, sinners, and Pearl, the product of their sin, often find themselves at the top of the scaffold throughout the novel. Hawthorne informs the reader that the scaffold "could have resulted in nothing less than the early execution of a notorious culprit ».” (47).