the scarlet letter, symbol 1

"A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded" is what is says in the beginning of chapter 1. To me it symbolizes poverty, a huge class distinction between the ones who had power and the ones that didn't. Or it might be when everyone first got to North-America, everything was new, and they didn't have anything. They were people who came to start all over, they wanted a society where things were perfect and everyone was happy, this also called Utopia.