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to get closer to God? The soil too sterile for cultivation and the remoteness of the location caused the previous owner to abandon it. This abandonment could serve as a symbol of the true lack of God in the Puritan community, as no one else chose to live there or build close to the water.

Water is mentioned again when Hester and Pearl go on an outing together. When Pearl goes off to play away from Hester, she is told by her mother to "not stray far. Keep where thou canst hear the babble of the brook." (163) This is another want of Hester, whether she is aware of it directly or not, to have her daughter know her Heavenly Father and be closer to God. Also, it shows that Hester still, on some level, trusts that God will look over her daughter when she cannot.

Sunshine is used symbolically as well. In the beginning, "...it seemed, to her sick and morbid heart, meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast." (71) When Hester and Pearl go walking in the forest Pearl is able to dance and play in the sunshine but Hester is not. Pearl tells her mother, "The sunshine does not love you because it is afraid of something on your bosom. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!" (160) When Hester tries to reach out and "catch" some of the sunlight it vanishes from her grasp. Sunshine would seem, at the first, to serve no other purpose than to highlight truth. This is most evident when Hester steps out of prison with Pearl in her arms and Pearl blinks in the sunlight and tries to hide from it. The sunlight is highlighting the truth of Hester's sin, her daughter. When the sunlight runs from Hester, it is a symbol of her being unable to admit the full truth of her situation. Later, Hester and Dimmesdale are sitting together and admit, together, what happened between them and their true feelings for each other. Upon this admission, sunshine floods the area. (177) Finally, sunshine can reach Hester and shine because she is truthful, not only to Pearl and Dimmesdale, but to herself. When Dimmesdale stands on the platform at night with Hester and Pearl it is the lack of sunlight, truth, which allows him to do so. It is interesting to see sunlight, a natural occurrence, used in such a powerful manner.

The forest is also a symbolic place. Because it is cut off from the rest of society and Puritan law, the forest is a place where witches gather to meet the Devil. Even while Hester and Pearl walk, Hester reminds her daughter to

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