The Scarlet Letter is a blend of realism, symbolism, and allegory. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses historical settings for this fictional novel and also provides historical background information for the inspiration of Hester Prynne's story in the introduction to The Scarlet Letter, "The Customs House." The psychological exploration of the characters and the author's use of realistic dialogues only add to the realism of the novel. The most obvious symbol in the novel is the actual scarlet letter "A" that Hester wears on her chest every day, but Hawthorne also uses Hester's daughter, Pearl, and her surroundings as symbols. Allegory is also present in The Scarlet Letter and is created through the character types of several characters in the novel. The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled "The Customs House." This passage provides historical background to the novel and conveys the narrator's purpose in writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even as the narrator imagines his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a "degenerate" because his career was not "glorifying God," which is very typical of strict and moralistic Puritans. Furthermore, although Hawthorne is a romantic writer, he incorporates the properties of realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and portraying them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using a very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views to those of the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when citizens reported the weather... middle of paper... .. .l of great price and is an allusion to the Bible. Hester kept her son but was alienated from society, making Pearl her only treasure in the world. Hester's ex-husband, Roger Chillingworth, is spiteful of her affair with the reverend and becomes an allegory of evil and revenge when he tortures Dimmesdale through guilt and manipulation. The historical context, psychological exploration of the characters, and realistic dialogue make this fictional novel more realistic. The symbolic representation of the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the settings along with the morals taught by the characters' stories make the novel more insightful, symbolic and allegorical. These aspects of The Scarlet Letter make the novel a brilliant combination of the literary devices of realism, symbolism and allegory and fill the novel with depth, suspense, romance and tragedy..