Chapter 3
Among all the people watching Hester Prynne standing on the scaffold, a short man with a strange body-shape was noticed by her. His motion is describes as "A writhing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight."
The snake is a symbol which represents the devil and evilness. It refers to the story of Adam and Eve in the bible. The snake made Eve eat from the apple tree even though she was not allowed. This makes the snake an evil, fake and convincing creature which should not be trust. So what Hawthrone means by this is that this man is evil and should not be trust. It is something mysterious over him, that is not good.
Chapter 1
9 years ago
The allusion also reminds us that Hester has been tempted and has fallen, but like Eve she can find redemption, but it won't be in Eden.
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