Analysis Of Wonders Of The Invisible World By Cotton Mather

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories are strongly developed around his unique and powerful use of physical setting. Often the location and the time of day of the story speak as much -- if not more -- of the plot, giving a deeper meaning then just the outside world. However, this emphasis on the physical setting is not always present, as in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Instead, Hawthorne here used primarily the psychological setting of the characters (and most of all with Parson Hooper) to create this masterpiece work that creates just as much an impact - if not more so -- than any physical setting could ever achieve. Hawthorne’s gift as a writer who knew the power of darkness is evident in his short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”.

Like his father before him, Cotton Mather took position as a pastor of the Second Church of Boston where he remained connected with that church from 1685, when he was ordained, until his death forty-three years later. It was mainly by his remorseless writing that he became one of the most notable of all New England Puritan ministers. Today Mather is often thought of as unsympathetic because of his part in the Salem witchcraft trials. Although he did not approve of all the trials, he had helped to stir up the wave of frantic fear by his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions. Later he further pursued his inquiries into satanic possession with “Wonders of the Invisible World.”

In this primary document, Cotton Mather, a Puritan theologian, writes about his fears of losing the entire country to the devil and his minions as the Christian religion, in his mind, is being slowly eradicated from the entire country due to witchcraft. In 1693 Cotton Mather wrote a literary piece called The Wonders of the Invisible World a year after questionable events in defense of the persecutions of those accused and convicted in Salem for witchcraft.

Both authors describe the devil similarly. When first encountered, they portray him described as a mostly normal person, with only a subtle clue to his

For its witnesses, the Salem Witch Trials confirmed the reality of the invisible world of spirits. The catalyst was described as a man who had an interest in the actions of Satan. That man is Cotton Mather. Mather was born into a family of ministers, including Reverend John Cotton. Mather preached his first sermon as a teenager and was ordained in his early twenties. Cotton Mather is known for his unnecessary involvement with the Salem Witch Trials. With the assistance of Cotton Mather’s novel, The Wonders of the Invisible World, the reader assumes Mather’s role in the witch hunt was excessive due to the result of his involvement. In his article, “An Unholy Mess,” Anthony Brandt argues that Cotton Mather’s contribution to society is greater than his infamous reputation. Also, according to Anthony Brandt, Mather’s influence in the world is larger than the Salem Witch Trials. Despite Anthony Brandt’s argument, Cotton Mather’s infamous reputation as a false prophet ultimately provoked the Salem Trials.

In this document, he depicts the evil spirits as being actually real entities and then tries to justify the horrible acts of cruelty during the trials because of them. He states with a genuine feeling that, “these our poor Afflicted Neighbors quickly after they become Infected and Infested with these Demons, arrive to a Capacity of Discerning those which they conceive the Shapes of their Troublers; and notwithstanding the Great and Just Suspicion, that the Demons might impose the Shapes of Innocent Persons in their Spectral Exhibitions upon the Sufferers.” He starts off saying that the reason the Devil is angry with his people is that they have encroached unto his lands. That this new world is so unforgiving in nature that it is alike to that of the Devil. Mather states that these lands, “were once the Devil’s Territories; and it may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly disturbed.” He says this to justify the reason why the Devil is angry with the people. Mather’s quote not only claims that the New Englanders of this area are in fact people of God, but more importantly that they are located deep in the Devil’s territory and that the Devil is very displeased these people loyal to Jesus Christ and Christianity.

In Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World, he explores the evidence presented at the Salem witch trial of Martha Carrier. Mather explains the spectral evidence presented at the trial as strange phenomena worked by the devil, when in reality it is simply the exploitation and fear that brewed underneath the surface colonial America.

As people grow up, it is made apparent to them that the Devil is an evil and rather a clever person. The greatest example of the devil in action is when the devil tempts Jesus. As most know, the devil fails to get Jesus to do evil. Jesus is both human and divine while the main character of The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker, is a “meager, miserly fellow”. Unfortunately, Tom Walker is not Jesus so the reader must focus in on Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker to see just exactly how and when the Devil won his game. Irving portrays to the reader that the devil cannot be beaten at his own game through setting, characters, and plot. As people have seen in sports, the setting of a game (where, when, weather, etc.) can have a big impact on the game. The same goes for The Devil and Tom Walker.

In “From the Wonders of the Invisible World”, Cotton Mather opens with; “The New Englanders are a people of God settled in those, which were once the devil’s territories: and it may easily be supposed that the devil was exceedingly disturbed”(226). In this opening statement it’s very clear to see Mather’s Puritanism style in a couple of ways. First by calling New Englanders people of God and stating later in the text; “the devil thus irritated, immediately tried all sorts of methods to overturn this poor plantation”(226). Mather makes it clear that New Englander’s have endured

Hawthorne’s use of elaborate symbolism is seen through out the entire story. The naïve man represents all people, who at first are blind to all the wicked darkness in life. The forest is a foreshadowing of evil, and is used to set the atmosphere in the story. Hawthorne cleverly uses "Faith" as the Puritan’s wife’s name to show his readers that even those whom we entrust with our most intimate love and faith often experience the same temptations and desires as the rest of mankind. The Devil’s fire, around which all the townspeople danced, is a representation of all their sins. At the end of the Puritan’s journey his transformation is a symbol of what happens to people when faced with the realization that no individual is sinless. This situation is similar to when a child discovers that its once loving and all knowing parents have flaws, it goes through this transition and it too looses its innocence. Through this gloomy allegory filled will elaborate symbolism Hawthorne conveys his ideas on the darkness of human nature.

Let us first start by evaluating a writing related to the events described above, The Wonders of the Invisible World. In this publication, Mather makes many references to accounts of eyewitness testimonies and confessions of the accused; not only to justify, but also to prove that the Salem witchtrials were a God sanctioned attack against Satanic works. Mather says, “He (the devil) has wanted incarnate legions to persecute us, as the people of God have in the other hemisphere been persecuted: he (the devil) has therefore drawn upon his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us.” (2) Mather’s use of the term “spiritual ones,” is meant to represent the accused witches of the time. Witches, Mather believes, are the work of the devil. Throughout this writing Mather quotes from the Bible. Mather knows that the people of his church would not dare question the validity of the Bible. So, by choosing specific verses that favor the intended goal of his writings he is able to add rock solid validity to the statements he is making to the members of his church. References to past situations illustrated in the Bible prove to Mathers’ audience that these

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most important authors in the history of American literature and the genre of Romanticism or Dark Romanticism, due to his unique style of writing and his focus upon subjects of Puritan religion and the unknown. I consider Hawthorne an important author, due to the fact that he skillfully and accurately based his fictional writings upon happenings of colonial times, was one of the first authors to display unfortunate outcomes for his characters’ immoral choices according to Puritan beliefs, and wrote of things that were considered taboo in his time, such as witchcraft, scientific innovation and experimentation. I strongly believe that Hawthorne’s influence for his writings were his Puritan ancestral background, his fascination with Puritan beliefs, and his interest in what was considered the unknown such as witchcraft and science. According to the Norton Anthology Textbook Vol. B, Nathaniel Hawthorne was “born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804” (370). Hawthorne belonged “to a family whose ancestral roots were tied to Puritan history, with his family being among the first settlers of Massachusetts and having one of his relatives serve as a judge during the Salem witch trials” (370). Hawthorne, as a young boy, “had a particular interest in writings such as John Bunyan’s Puritan allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, and by his mid-teens he took interest in British novelists such as Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollet, William Godwin, and Sir Walter Scott”

Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around sin and punishment.  The main characters of the novel sharply contrast each other in the way they react to the sin that has been committed

   Based on the evaluations of literary critics, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” contains both an external and an internal conflict, about equally treated in the tale. It is the intent of this essay to explore both types of conflict as presented in the story.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a man who was both plagued and absorbed by the legacy of the Puritans in New England. He was related to John Hathorne, a Puritan judge during the infamous Salem Witch trials of 1692. In The Scarlet Letter, his fictional account of mid-17th century Boston presents an opportunity to examine different themes commonly associated with Puritans. Particularly the nature of sin, personal identity and the repression of natural urges are themes that appear repeatedly through the novel. While his account of this time period may not be completely historically accurate, it is indicative of the persistent thematic influence of Puritan culture on American and New England society.