Literary Analysis Of ' Hawthorne 's ' The Old Town Of Salem My Night ' Essay

Along with these beliefs the Puritans held, Hawthorne also included many examples of the Puritan lifestyle. “It might be that a sluggish bond-servant, or an undutiful child... was to be corrected at the whipping-post. It might be that an Antinomian, a Quaker, or other heterodox religionist, was to be scourged out of the town, or an idle or vagrant Indian, whom the white man's firewater had made riotous about the streets, was to be driven with stripes into the shadow of the forest” (Hawthorne 23). He describes their punishments and close-mindedness on religion and they would only take people of their religion. Hawthorne used the

He uses the rhetorical device catachresis, or a hyperbolic metaphor and consonant blends when describing his ancestors to stress his already made emphasis on his views of them. There can be little doubt of Hawthorne's disdain for the stern morality and rigidity of the Puritans, and he imagines his predecessors' disdainful view of him: unsuccessful in their eyes, worthless and disgraceful. "A writer of story books!" But even as he disagrees with his ancestor's viewpoint, he also feels an instinctive connection to them and, more importantly, a "sense of place" in Salem. Their blood remains in his veins, but their intolerance and lack of humanity become the subject of his novel.

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 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, one of the most contemporary American writers of all time, was the great nephew of Judge Hathorne. Who was one of the prime judges of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. Although Nathaniel hated his uncle for his efforts during the horrific trials, he became obsessed with his ideals of puritanism. Through these ideals he became a anti-transcendentalist; someone who believes that naturally we are born evil and society is the only thing that keeps us from provoking chaos. Therefore, Hawthorne’s novels, The Minister’s Black Veil and The Scarlet Letter were both set in puritan towns in the 1600’s, even though he was alive in the 18th century. The Scarlet Letter, which Hawthorne is best known for, is a fictional story

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author from New England that had an ancestry that included Puritans. Despite his ancestry, he believed that the extremities of the Puritan religion were notably disagreeable. Puritans in the New England colonies lived by a rigorous code of law. These more extreme Protestants believed in a strict moral code, a close interpersonal relationship with God, intimate religious experiences, and an unadulterated life that centered around religion. Mankind was ultimately depraved, and the sole source of salvation was God Himself. Hawthorne used his ancestors’ twisted way of thinking as fuel for his career. Many of Hawthorne’s literary works are manifestations of his belief that

Nathanial Hawthorne was born and raised in Salem Massachusetts. His family was one of first puritan’s families to come to the states. “Hawthorne learned that his family was involved in the Salem witch trials. So to avoid any afflation the trails he added an ‘w’ so he could separate him from his great great grandfather”( Palladino, 62). Hawthorne is well known for many

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.

Hawthorne describes “No aim, that I have ever cherished, would they recognize as laudable; no success of mine – if my life, beyond its domestic scope, had ever been bright-ended by success – would they deem otherwise, if not positively disgraceful. ‘What is he?’ murmurs one gray shadow of my forefathers to the other. ‘A writer of story-books! What kind of business in life, – what made of glorifying God, or being serviceable to mankind in his day and generation – may that be?’ … And yet, let them scorn me as they will, strong traits of their nature have intertwined themselves with mine” (Hawthorne 10-11). This best exemplifies the Hawthorne’s purpose and message because it explains that the Puritan culture is different from that of Salem. Hawthorne explains that his ancestors would criticize him because he lives differently than how the Puritans had lived. Writing this story interests Hawthorne because it has to do with people from his past. Although Hawthorne lives differently from the Puritans, the Puritans also had “strong traits of nature [that] have intertwined themselves with mine”. This shows that Hawthorne criticizes the strictness of the Puritans. In Hawthorne’s story, he uses Hester to show the Puritan beliefs for sin in the life of the Puritans to show that the Puritans had strict punishments for sin. Hawthorn also uses Dimmesdale to show that even the holiest Puritans also

Set in 17th century New England, Hawthorne utilizes this short story to convey his distaste for the Salem Witch Trials and his great-grandfather, John Hathorne’s participation as a judge. In addition, he demonstrates the Puritan idea that all humans are in a state of corruption until you have experienced a conversion, only sanctioned by God to become part of “the elite”.

The literary works of Nathaniel Hawthorne are essentials in a comprehensive study of American literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a sixth generation American was born in Salem, Mass., on July 4, 1804. Hawthorne had an ancestor who was one of the three judges at the 17th-century Salem witchcraft trials. His Massachusetts family declined into relative obscurity over the generations, both facts impacted his life, imagination and writings. (“Nathaniel Hawthorne.” Columbia Encyclopedia) Two of Hawthorne’s short stories “The Birthmark” and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” demonstrate a common themes of obsession, corruption, the inferior place of women and the limits of science run throughout these Hawthorne works.

“The novelist’s great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne was a leading judge of the Salem witch trials, and Hawthorne was haunted by this ancestor’s shameful past” (Klein). Moreover, after the novelist graduated from Bowdoin, the author added a letter “w” to his last name, probably to disassociate himself from a person of whom he wrote “So conspicuous in the martyrdom of the witches, that their blood may fairly be said to have left a stain upon him” (Klein).

1. Hawthorne calling the colony a “utopia” is him being sarcastic and mocking society because society is anything but perfect. The founders of the colony are in a false pretense that their colony will be just as they visualize it with everything flawless and perfect. This is what they think yet their first step in their utopia is to make a cemetery and a prison. A cemetery represents death, so the founders are already expecting death to come before their colony has even begun. A prison would be made to hold criminals, as though the founder already know there will crooks and wickedness in their faultless and perfect colony. Hawthorne is mocking the colony when he calls it a “utopia” and showing that nothing is ever perfect.

The story of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is one with many twists and turns. A young woman moves to Boston, Massachusetts while her husband takes care of affairs in England. After two years pass she secretly has an affair with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. When she becomes pregnant and gives birth to her daughter Pearl, the town punishes her for committing the act of adultery. She is sentenced to stand on the town scaffold for public embarrassment and to wear a letter “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. As she stands there she sees her husband from England in the crowd, who later threatens to find the father of the child and seek his

“Many of Hawthorne’s works are cautionary tales. His characters often become consumed with the concepts of sin and judgement.” (Hawthorne’s Haunted Heritage pg.1)