In Chapter One of "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne describes the prison as the "black flower" of civilized society. He ironically points out that the Puritans felt they had a utopian society, yet one of the first things they had to built was a prison to hold those who broke the law.He then compares this "black flower" of society to the rose bush that grew outside the prison door. The rose bush might have sprung up when the "sainted" Anne Huchinson, a believer in freedom of religion, was put in the prison. In any case, the rose bush is offered as a contrast to the "black flower" and used as a symbol of something beautiful that exists in this dark, society.
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