“A symbol is anything that stands for or represents something else” (Wiggins R33).
The hourglass is a symbol shows the destruction of the natural world throughout time. It shows that in a matter of time the world will have lost all beauty. By using the hour glass it does also portray a small entrance from the natural to industrial world, which means it can be easily sealed, except it cannot be reached yet by the world the humans “created”. As the artist used an hourglass he is portraying the inevitability of time. The natural world seems to be sucked into the next, not by their choice, but the constant demand of industrial growth. (Hateanddanger.wordpress.com)
In the Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the scarlet letter a symbolises change within a human. In the beginning of the novel the letter was looked at as something to be feared as as well as looked down upon, but throughout the book the letter was looked at of something of beauty and pride. The wearer of the letter Hester Prynne uses the unfortunate event to build herself into a completely new person. Hawthorne used the letter to portray an animate object in the sense of an inanimate evolution. Through the works of Hester she takes a new look onto life and approaches the letter with love, as she endures everything with, and through her determination the letters identities change, “It was none the less a fact, however, that, in the eyes of the very men who spoke thus, the scarlet letter had the effect of the cross on a nun’s bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril” (Hawthorne 25). As well as the letter she was a completely new person. Throughout the representation of the scarlet letter A a transformation was able to be easily pictured.
In the Minister’s Black Veil, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the veil that Father Hooper wears symbolizes him holding back from the rest of the world. Hawthorne uses the black veil as a way to show the tendencies of isolation in a forward way. Mr. Hooper uses the black veil to hide behind and to isolate himself, but as a normal human reaction, humans isolate themselves in times of complete fear,when they should find themselves with another. Mr. Hooper, hides from his own wife, “Elizabeth, I will,” said he, “so far as my vow may suffer me. Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitaire and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends” (Hawthorne). Fear is common as being fearful of an outside element where humans are fearing for themselves, and also fearful of oneself, where humans fear for everyone else. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the veil to shows the instinct of the fear of burdening people with ones problems, humans find a way to separate themselves, but no one deserves to be alone, so why does one seclude themselves. The black veil is a symbol of fear, and a feeling of isolationism when one feels as they do not belong or find themselves being misunderstood.