The Scarlet Letter

Professor Uriel Simon offers several possible explanations for this despicable act:

The sending of Uriah as bearer of his own writ of execution may be explained simply as a result of the force of circumstance. The entrusting of the letter to him lent his recall from the front a routine official character whereas the sending of the letter by another messenger might have given Uriah the impression that he had lost favor thus putting him on the alert.

On the other hand it is difficult to avoid the feeling that the narrator meant to contrast the king with his victim. At the same time that Uriah's conscience will not let him perform a deed that seems to him to be unbecoming even though it harmed no one, David makes him emissary of his own liquidation.

The letter Bathsheba holds in her hand may be symbolic of Uriah's death warrant. The ominous letter will separate her forever from her beloved husband: by the cruelty of fate, by the royal order of the king of Israel.