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ism in his works. The various usage of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter makes the novel a work of the world. In a word, in The Scarlet Letter, what Hawthorne concerns with is the moral, emotional and psychological effect of the sin on the people in general. The letter “A” helps him to explore the human soul. It is not a praise of Hester Prynne’s sin, but a hymn to the moral growth of the woman when sin against moral laws. It is his concern with moral or ethical problems and his talent in dealing with them in the form of the letter “A” that attains him success in this novel.

Ⅱ.Puritanism in New England 新英格兰的清教徒

The Puritans have influenced American culture profoundly. Their traces can be found in almost all aspects of American life. Puritan was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church; they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence. In the 17th century many Puritans migrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England. They believed in simplicity of life and embraced hardships together with the discipline of a harsh church. Puritan religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God and to forget his mercy. Puritan va1ues include hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety, some of which can still be found in interpreting American spirit. Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century. “A” preoccupation with Puritanism marked the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne，who is one of the greatest writers.
Like their counterparts in Britain they were extreme Calvinistic Protestants who viewed the Reformation as a victory of true Christianity over Roman Catholicism. They believed that the Universe was God-centered, and that man was, inherently sinful and corrupt, rescued from damnation (if indeed he was) only by arbitrary divine grace, was duty-bound to do God’s will, which he could understand best by studying the Bible and the universe which God had created and which he controlled. “They were thus zealous in defense of their own beliefs but often intolerant of the beliefs of others. They drove out of their settlements all whose opinions seemed dangerous to them.”(Wu Weiren: 8) “The Puritans made laws about private morality as well as public behavior. Yet this very attempt to suppress all sin seemed to produce outbreaks of misbehavior, as if in reaction to the strictness.”(Wu Weiren: 9)

Ⅲ. Symbolism: a Key to Extended Meaning 象征：一个关键的引申义

“A symbol, according to Webster’s dictionary, is ‘something that stands for something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance…a visible sign of something invisible.’ Symbols, in this sense, are with us all the time for there are few words or objects that do not evoke, at least in certain contexts, a wide range of associated meanings and feelings.” (Lin Liuchen: 186)
Symbolism is the systematic or creative use of arbitrary symbols as abstracted representations of concepts or objects and the distinct relationships between them, as they define both context and the narrower definition of terms. In literature, symbo