One of the most impactful chapters in Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter is the very first chapter, The Prison Door. This chapter introduces the reader to hawthorns style of writing and symbolism. Hawthorn uses very long sentences with many commas and semicolons. “This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, or whether, as there is far authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson as she entered the prison-door, we shall not take upon us to determine” is a good example of Hawthorne's writing style. Hawthorns use of commas help him to add vivid imagery and make the setting seem realistic. Since there is a narrator throughout the book it adds to the story telling aspect. A person telling a story is not always perfectly precise with short sentences. In this paragraph specifically the narrator describes the rose bush that grows next to the prison door. The long and vivid descriptions of the flower and prison door help to compare and contrast the characteristics of the beautiful flower with the dull prison. If the descriptions were not so clear the symbolism and theme of the beauty growing in darkness and uncertainty would not be so clear and powerful.