The symbolism in Roger Malvin's Burial is intentionally conspicuous and exhibits the presence of Puritan ideals. The strong symbolism in the young oak sapling that Reuben bound his handkerchief to is sindicative of Puritan principle. The oak sapling signifies a beginning for Reuben. It symbolizes his introduction to a new life, led miserably under the curse of a cowardly lie. Secondly, after the "sacrafice" of Reuben's son, the sapling cracks from the matured oak and falls to the ground. This signifies the atonement of Reuben's sin. The Puritan philosophy would attach symbolic meaning to the occurance involving the sapling. Hawthorne makes the parallel obvious to reflect that. There is also symbolism in Reuben's recollection of the sapling of years before. Reuben remembers, "...how the little banner had fluttered on the topmost bough, when it was green and lovely, eighteen years before". The sapling in this instance, reflects Reuben. Before the death of Roger Malvin, Reuben himself, was green and lovely. "Green" is meant as both naive, young, and simple as well as green in color. Hawthorne then asks, "Whose guilt had blasted it?" Of course, Reuben's guilt had deprived the sapling of life, much the same as the horrendous guilt had deprived his own life. The direct connection between the sapling and Reuben is demonstrative of Puritan ideals. In the Puritan concept, the actions of Reuben were directly associated with the elements of nature. Hawthorne's work reflects the attitudes of the mid- nineteenth century. These attitudes had less bearing on the present than they did a hundred years earlier, yet they still influenced the shaping of America and American fiction.