Symbolism in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathanial Hawthorne

Often throughout The Scarlet Letter there are symbolic references made.
The story deals with a Puritan woman who commits adultery and raises an
illegitimate child named Pearl. The author, Nathanial Hawthorne, seems
to be rather fond of using religious and natural images to symbolize
different points, possibly because of his own Puritan background. One
of the purposes of this symbolism is to show that Puritanism is
hypocritical and that their religious viewpoints are against the
natural order, which is done by using contrasting natural and religious
symbols in the descriptions of Pearl.
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