Discussing the Symbolic and Realistic Issues in American Literature before 1900

Liu Peiqing

D.H. Lawrence has said： “You must look through the surface of American art， and see the inner diabolism of the symbolic meaning.” Indeed， in American literature， there are many symbolic elements in the story. It is said that symbolism derived from the symbolic movement of French in the late 19th century， and it has already become an important writing technique to novels. The use of symbols is very common in literary works. It expresses abstract meanings with the aid of specific objects in the novel， which gives readers a space of imagination to afford much food for thought. Thus， the symbols in the work usually are the reflection of reality but in a more concreteness way. This essay will take the Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick for an example to discuss the symbolic and realistic issues in American literature before 1900. It will do this by analyzing the symbolic subtexts in these two novels and discovering the realistic meaning that the authors want to express.

The Scarlet Letter was the representative work of Nathaniel Hawthorn， the American Romantic novelist in 19th century. The background of this novel is the new England in 17th century， when the society was governed by Calvinist colonizers. In this novel， the heroine Hester Prynne is punished to wear a Scarlet letter to represent for her adultery. However， she doesnt confess the paramour. On the one hand， the paramour， Arthur Dimmesdale， suffers from the guilty of his heart； on the other hand， Hesters husband， Chinglingworth， is filled of hostility and becomes vindictive. Obviously， the most representative symbol in this story is the scarlet letter， and it runs through the whole book and connects all the main characters. As the most mysterious and the most complicated symbol， it actually has different meaning in different characters lives.

First of all， as for the heroine Hester， the scarlet letter is a representative of sin in the very beginning. According to the rules of Calvinist cannon， one who breaks the rule of the seventh discipline， the crime of adultery， she must wear a scarlet letter in front of her chest as punishment. In this way， the scarlet letter represents for sin， “Adultery”. What brings to Hester is the shame and burden， which are imposed to her shoulders. However， the meaning of “A” changes as she changes her mind. When she meets the pastor， she changes her cognition of the scarlet letter： she takes off this scarlet in front of her chest， and throws it away. This action shows her rebellion to the worldly morality and ethic， and she begins to comprehend the heart and soul of human beings deeply， and even to sympathize those who are keeping away from her and humiliating her. At this time， the scarlet letter transforms from “Adultery” to “Amazon”， and she becomes a brave woman to face the persecution and unfair treatment. As she defenses the Puritans， she begins to sublime. Since Pearl was born， her life has new changes. She is generous to the poor， and she takes care of the ill and weak people. In that period， people consider her as a kind nun， and many of them forget the original meaning of the scarlet letter. They believe that the “A” is the representative of “Able”. Gradually， with the effort of Hester， the “A”is never standing for “Adultery”， but more commendatory terms， such as “Admirable”， “Affection” and even “Angel”. She acquires the pure soul and power， and finally wins peoples respect.

In Puritans eyes， Hester has an affair with another man， which should be regarded as vamp， and should accept the punishment and shame from the God. However， they never realize that they are actually committing a more serious crime： when they make use of the Gods name to judge this kind-hearted woman， they are blaspheming the authority of the God with the authority of human beings. On the contrary， Hester uses her kind actions to get peoples respect， and the symbol of the scarlet letter will change with her transformation.

In The Scarlet Letter， the heroine Hester is shaped as a rebel and traditional womans image. The portrayal of Hester reflects the authors expression not only on the indifferent canon， but also on gender. In the reality， the first-wave feminism began from the 19th to the early 20th century throughout the world and left a huge influence on America as well as the era that Hawthorne lived in. As one of the greatest American romantic novelists in the 19th century， Hawthorne is also considered to be one of the pioneer male writers who begin to have the feminist consciousness. This advanced awareness exhibited in the Scarlet Letter， so he shapes Hester as a representative and uses the scarlet letter as a symbol to express his attitude towards the suppress sensual passion of Puritan and the unjustified treatment of women.

In addition to Hester， the scarlet letter also has deep meaning to Arthur Dimmesdale. He is the paramour， so the scarlet letter has a meaning of “Adultery” to him， too. However， in comparison with Hester， there are even more complex meanings to him， because his scarlet letter is not displayed in the public， but in his heart， and becomes a secret of him. The capital letters of his first name and surname are “A” and“D”，which is another subtext of “Adultery”. He feels guilty for his actions， but he doesnt have the courage to admit for his crime. He feels painful， so this “A” stands for “Agony” or “Anguish”， especially when he receives the respect of the public. He thinks he is hypocrisy and dishonest. When he wanders in the confession， this “A” has already become the representative of “Alienation” and “Alone”. When he finally admits for the crime and tells everyone that he is the paramour， he gets the liberation of his soul with his death. He experiences a process of hiding his crime to admitting it， and finally to get the liberation. He represents for a “half penitence” sinner， and gets his rebirth in morality at the moment of death.

The realistic meaning of Author is the reflection of human nature. He is afraid of admitting for his crime， is out of the human nature of self-protection. However， after he hides the truth， he feels guilty about his concealing， this is also out of human nature. Throughout his life， he is controlled by the scarlet letter in his heart， and what the author wants to express is the portrayal of this kind of nature.

Besides， there is also another main character in this novel， Hesters husband， Chinglingworth. Different from Hester and Dimmesdale， he is a victim at first， but then because of the hostility， be becomes a villain then. Hostility makes him lose the goodness and turn into a devil. He makes use of the identity of a doctor to approach Dimmesdale， and the only thing in his life is to make reprisals. When Dimmesdale eventually dies， his life is actually dying away， too.

Obviously， in comparison with Hester and Dimmesdale， Chinglingworth is more like a sinner——a sinner who is blaspheming the God， because he takes personal vengeance on Author with the name of the God. By using the symbols of the scarlet letter， the author displays to us the conflicts of material life and mental life. Based on the whole story， the realistic meaning of the scarlet letter reflects the perspective of the author gazing at the society： gender， religion， human civilization， the relationship between good and evil， and even the essence of the world： the unity of truth and conflicts. The “A” has more meanings besides the original “Adultery”， and it gradually turns into a bailment of the authors anticipation to the society： it is the sublimation of love， the thought of ethic and morality， and even an ideality of human beings.

Another literary work with symbolic and realistic meanings in the text is Moby Dick. As an outstanding work of American romanticism， Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville in 1851. There are many subtexts in this novel， and the first one is the meaning of Moby Dick itself. The color white usually gives us a feeling of unclear and mysterious， and so does the whale. The first symbolic meaning of the whale is the supernatural power： people cannot conquer it， and then it is considered as the embodiment of evil. No one could ascertain it， as it remains a mystery. Another subtext of the whale is the God， because when it is confronting people with this supernatural power， people appear to be ignorant and superficial， which can only see things from the surface without making sense the essence hidden in the rear. In addition， the whale is also the embodiment of nature. This seems to be similar to the symbol of the supernatural power， but it is quite different. The symbolic meaning of nature is to say that if human plunder crazily from nature， they must get the punishment and even suffer from devastation in the end.

From the perspective of society， the whale seems to be an antagonistic power against the producer in the process of capitalist production. The action of capturing whales is the reflection of the exploitation of capitalists. Thus， the symbolic meaning of the whale is various.

Another symbol in this novel is Pequod， the ship for capturing whales. On the one hand， it represents the limitation of land——thus it must goes into the sea to explore further. The ship and the sea is the symbol of the life that people must face： they must face to the difficulties and uncertainty in the future， or they will never acquire the understanding of true life. On the other hand， as it explores， it touches the “forbidden zone” of nature， so it implies the destiny of this ship. The name of “Pequod”， however， comes from an Indian tribe which was deracinated. Thus， it is also a symbol to show that evil people must be exterminated if annoying the “forbidden zone” or nature or touching the supernatural power. This is a kind of conflict for human beings： people are eager to discover new things and they must experience them to truly understand their lives， but the crazy pillage without limitation will result in tragedy in the end.

This novel was written in a period， when there was a gold fever in America. When the ship slowly drove into the sea， it reflects the real society when people were absorbed in the gold rush. This is a subtext of the expanding spirit as well as the American soul which explores the mystery of nature with persistence. The author tells us a story with symbols to express his feeling about human adventures.

In conclusion， the symbols in American literature before 1900 are usually accompanied with realistic meanings that the authors want to express in the real world. In addition to The Scarlet Letter and Moby Dick， the symbols and their deeper meanings in literary works are still to be discovered in the future.

References：

[1]Yao Xiaomei，On the Symbolic Meanings in Moby Dick，School of Foreign Languages，June 2014.

[2]Nathaniel Hawthorne.The Scarlet Letter.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2012.713.

[3]Xiao Yihu，Pan Cuiqiong，Exploring the symbolic meaning of “A” in the Scarlet Letter，Journal of Higher Correspondence Education，Vol.13 No.5，October 2000.

[4]Qiuwan，Gender Issues in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter，2014.

[5]Herman Melville，Moby Dick，Richard Bentley （Britain）， October 18，1851.