Development Of Narrative, By Nathaniel Hawthorne, And Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were writers of the American gothic genre. They both used the elements of horror and mystery in their writing styles, writing about the dark side of humanity and the evil that lives within the human mind. Gothic writing focuses on the dark side of humanity and both Poe and Hawthorne captured this style well in their use of themes, symbols, and narration that focused on darkness and evil with their characters fighting various psychological issues. However, Poe’s stories are told in the first person narrative and he focuses on one human psychological effect, looking at man’s thoughts from within his mind and how his behavior then affects his surroundings. He also tends to build a sense on impending doom somewhat stronger than Hawthorne. Hawthorne, on the other hand uses the third person and focuses more on how man’s thoughts and behaviors are the results of what is happening around him. His stories also tend to be more of a romantic nature than Poe’s and he tends to create stories of conflicting interpretations to share lessons of life.

Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe were extremely successful gothic or dark romantic authors of the 19th century. The two authors wrote a plethora of short stories that strayed from the rationalist styles of the 18th century and paved the way for other dark romantic authors. Romanticism focuses on emotions and nature while rationalism focuses on logic and reasoning. Hawthorne and Poe display the darker side of human nature throughout all of their works. Three especially good examples of this particular style are Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” as well as Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat.”

Religio-historical objects are things of crafted pieces of writing that reveal the realities of religious subjects through the perspective visions of their author (C.J Bleeker). Compared to an artist who has a muse, writers also have a “muse” something that influences their writing. Whether it is a personal experience, religious belief, or common morals writers derive the context within their writing from many different aspects of life. One thing most authors derive their ideas from is their religion or just any religion that interest them. Authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Flannery O’Connor, writings often include many allegories and symbols to religious faiths.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of American literature's finest writers; his writing style was very distinct and unusual in some aspects. It is his background that provided this ambiguous and complex approach to writing. Hawthorne's New England heritage has, at times, been said to be the contributing factor in his works. The Puritan view of life itself was considered to be allegorical, their theology rested primarily on the idea of predestination and the separation of the saved and the damned As evident from Hawthorne's writings his intense interest in Puritanical beliefs often carried over to his novels such as, Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlet Letter, and The Minister's Black Veil just to name a few of the more well known pieces of his work.

Irving, Poe, and Hawthorne were arguably some of the most popular writers of the 19th century (Dincer 223; Lauter 2505). All three of them are known for their short essays and their advocacy to make writing a full-fledged and legitimate profession. Their writings show that they were hugely influenced by the Romantic Movement (romanticism); ‘a movement in art, literature, music, philosophy, politics and culture towards focusing on the individual, the subjective, and the spontaneous’ (Dincer 218). Romanticist writing “encouraged contemplation and self-awareness, direct contact with nature, and a focus on and an exploration of inner feelings” (Dincer 223). Yet, they had distinct writing style, focus, and theme. While Irving was more of a light romantic writer, a writing style characterized by optimism, Poe and Hawthorne are widely considered dark romantic Authors whose writings were characterized by pessimism that sees the world as full of dark, evil, suffering, horror, and mystery. While Irving’s writing focused more on satire and humor, Poe & Hawthorne’s writing was more about evil, crime, sin, and mystery. Moreover, Irving seem to be nostalgic aristocrat with huge ‘interest in the landscape, folklore, and the past’ (2506), whereas Poe and Hawthorne had a contrary view of the past (Liptak).

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a well known American writer, He is still being spoke of today over 200 years after his death. Many people praised him for his writing including, Edgar Allan Poe Praising “Twice-Told Tales”(Liukkonen, Petri). His life was calm for most of his life and, he was very focused on ensuring his family’s financial security.

Since the discovery of philosophy by the Greek civilizations man has always tried to find the cause of many fundamental problems that are connected to the reality and existence of factors that contribute to these dilemmas but still remain unknown to humanity. One of the most controversial questions philosophy tries to answer is the origin of what we consider evil, who or what is connected to the main cause of the pain and suffering that goes on throughout the world. “Evil is when one purposefully causes pain, not pain caused by fault, knowing something is morally wrong, but still proceeds in doing so. Simply by the definition of evil,

“The man wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-stripped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works established him as one of the most unique authors of the 19th century. With works such as The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne not only entertained his audience, he made them look at their own life and compare it to 17th century Puritan New England. He also brought readers to the realization of how harsh and difficult the period of American History was. Hawthorne’s unique style of writing and his ability to probe deep into the human conscience made him one of Early America’s most greatly admired authors.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4,1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. He was the only son and second child to be born to Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hawthorne. When Nathaniel was four years old his father died of yellow fever in Dutch Guiana. After Nathaniel’s father died, his mother’s family took in his family. As a child Hawthorne developed a love for story telling. When Nathaniel was nine years old, he got an injury to his foot that caused him to stay home for fourteen months. While nursing his injury at home, he got into the habit of constant reading. In his late teen years, he was a handsome, vigorous, and bright young man. Nathaniel was the first in his family to be sent to college.

During the early period of American Gothic literature, many authors, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, incorporated the sinister perspective of the human nature in their writings. Both Hawthorne’s symbolic narrative, “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and Poe’s violent fiction, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, demonstrate separation and symbolism throughout the course of each story. In Hawthorne’s short story, the protagonist, Minister Hooper, decides to wear a black veil over his face and vows to never remove it, even when he dies. His decision to wear the black veil consequently separates him from society. Hawthorne uses the veil to symbolize the human psyche of people’s efforts to hide the sins they are guilty of committing. In Poe’s story, the narrator is the caretaker of an old man with a blind eye. The caretaker describes his internal discomfort when he sees the eye, therefore he devises a plan to murder the old man. His separation from humanity due to the uneasy feeling of the old man’s pale, blind eye are shown through his efforts to commit murder.

With most writers, readers can identify what topics they tend to write about, how long their pieces often are, and what personal style these authors develop. While this is true of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are different elements that influence his writings. His life included many times of trials, many joys, and many ancestors that caused some turmoil within his mind. Two of his major works are influenced almost directly by his background (Werlock). Nathaniel Hawthorne threw his life into every single piece of his writing. His experiences, background, and the setting in which his life took place are prominent

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote one of the most studied short story in literature, “Young Goodman Brown”. This short story is widely use because of the deep meaning and strong internal attachment it has with the reader. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts his family had been early settlers, one of his great-grandfather was a judge during the Salem witch trials and had twenty-five women killed. Hearing his great-grandfather talk about this subject made Hawthorne both obsessed and a little ashamed for what his family has done during the Salem witch trials. Hawthorne put those feelings into his stories which in reality explore what the events that happened in the puritans’ life style.

The book opens with a description of people founding a new colony, later revealed to be Boston, and setting aside parts for a cemetery and a prison. The prison is described as ugly and weather-stained. Also pointed out is the presence of a rose bush in front of the prison gate that has somehow been kept alive. A rose is offered to the reader on the basis that it could symbolize a “moral blossom” or “relieve the darkening close of a human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 42).

As we know Irving is a writer located between neoclassicism and romanticism, so in the development of this essay we can see different characteristics. For example, what I explained in the previous lines indicate characteristics of romanticism: Inspiration in other countries: the Dutch story; enthusiasm for exotic landscape: Catskill Mountains appear as something mystic; or a world of fantasy: the author changes the place telling unbelievable things about it.