"A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments [...] and studded with iron spikes."
In this paragraph the Puritan people are described. They all wear the same grey clothes and the same hats so there is nothing different on them. What would happen, if somebody wore something else?
"[...] in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison."
Hawthorne uses a black flower to describe the prison. Black usually stands for death and cruelty, so the black flower describes the prison as a place of death.
"[...] was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems [...]"
On the other hand he uses a rose-bush to picture purity and freedom, especially religious freedom. It's used as the opposite of the black flower - black stands for death . roses are usually red and that color stands for love and passion. Seems as he likes to play with colors?
Good notes here!
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