Authors often write significant scenes that bring importance to their novel as a whole. The scenes usually encompass a number of literary elements. These elements aid in bringing significance to the scenes. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one author who has written scenes that are important to whole novel. In his book, The Scarlet Letter, there are three significant scaffold scenes. By analyzing the scaffold scenes their significance becomes obvious. In the first scaffold scene Hawthorne uses context, characters, symbols, and theme as an introduction to the significance of his novel.

The first scaffold scene occurs almost at the start of the novel. It is filled with important facts that reveal the background of the story. Through the context it becomes evident that this novel takes place in Boston during the time of the Puritans. By knowing this particular background, the tone of the novel is set. The stereotypical view...