The Scarlet Letter is an important novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that criticizes and analyzes many important social issues with the puritan society. Hawthorne uses setting to show how the perfect society created by the Puritans to ensure a theologically moral community, could never exist due to the fact that an individual’s freedoms oppose and prevail over the community’s restrictions. The scaffold and the creek, symbolizing opposing elements of the setting are representative of restriction and freedom for the characters of The Scarlet Letter.

The scaffold was a tool of puritan punishment that tried to enforce the restrictions of the puritan society onto Hester, but failed as their individual freedoms were of greater significance to themselves. For Hester the scaffold was a consequence for breaking the rules set up by the puritan society. She had committed a most heinous crime, adultery, in the eyes of the town. Hawthorne says, “The scaffold of the pillory was a point of view that revealed to Hester Prynne the entire track along which she had been treading” (40). Hester was trying to reach out and obtain individual freedoms which she felt a stronger reaction to not having compared to breaking the community’s rules. The purpose of the scaffold was to teach Hester that the theological restrictions set up by the community were of the utmost importance. While on the scaffold, Hester reflects on the decision she made to achieve her individual freedom to express her love to anyone whom she deems worthy, and comes to a shocking conclusion. She does not regret making her decision. The scaffold was not successful in forcing Hester to abide under the puritan laws, but instead clarifies Hester’s doubt about her decision. Hester says, “Yes! –these were her realities, –all else had vanished!” (Hawthorne, 41) while she realizes that while her decision at the time being will be embarrassing and shameful, in the long run she will have obtained a entity worth far more than the price she had to pay to express herself individually. By opposing the community’s restrictions, Hester obtains a child with the man she loves, and has no reason to doubt that individual freedoms prevail over the community’s restrictions.

The creek in the forest was a representation of Hester’s individual freedom, and was the boundary of where the community’s restrictions extended which allowed the creek to be the safe haven of individual expression. “The child turned her eyes…’Come thou and take it up!’ answered Pearl” (Hawthorne, 144) was an essential quote for understanding Hawthorne’s intent for writing the novel. In this particular scene Pearl will not cross over the creek to get back to town because Hester is not wearing her infamous scarlet letter “A”. Pearl’s action is used to depict the boundary of the community’s rules, and upon entering the boundaries the importance of self-expression is limited. The community’s rules are clear and present once crossing the boundary of the creek and the rule for Hester to wear the scarlet letter becomes apparent once again. On the other side of the creek, the puritan laws have no power and there is freedom for all beings currently residing there. Dimmesdale says, “That this brook is a boundary between two worlds” (Hawthorne, 143) this quote helps to further support the idea that the creek is the divider between freedom of expression and the constraints of the puritan society. On one side of the creek Hester has the freedom to express her love to Dimmesdale freely without any irritation from the town. Whilst on the other side of the creek, Hester has no choice but to be a seamstress and try to earn the respect of the town by following their regulations. Hester uses the freedom side of the creek to make all her important decisions like how she plans to travel to Europe with Dimmesdale. The creek is not only where Hester prefers to be, but is crucial for her when she is attempting to make rational, life changing decisions because it is a place where her actions are influenced by only her ideas. In the creek, the concept of individual freedom has no rival, and it is allowed to flourish prevail over the frail community restrictions.

Both elements of the puritan setting, the scaffold and the creek, allowed for Hester to mature through the struggle of the individual freedoms against the community’s regulations and realize that the individual freedoms are more significant for her. The scaffold represents a dreaded, shameful punishment where rigid theological beliefs must be followed without objection while the creek represents a haven for freedom and for thoughts to roam uncontrollably.