The Scarlet Letter When Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, he filled the story with archetypes. He used archetypes from three different categories. They are plot, character, and symbolic archetypes. Because of these three elements, The Scarlet Letter is an archetypal book. The first plot archetype is the battle between good and evil. In the story, Roger Chillingworth represents evil and is also seen as the devil figure. He was said to be the “Black …showed first 75 words of 952 total…

…showed last 75 words of 952 total…freedom and her womanness. The sunlight also poured down upon her and Dimmesdale. But before Hester and Arthur relieved themselves of their sins, the forest was dark representing their despair. In The Scarlet Letter, archetypes play a very important role. The archetypes gave the book a deeper meaning and also led the reader to a better understanding of the situation. Without these important literary archetypes, the story would have been dull and lost its meaning.