Nathaniel Hawthorn and His Solitary Puritan World - Essay Example

Solitude – a recess which steeled his resolves right from childhood Nathaniel Hawthorn lost his father when he was merely four years old which prompted his bereaved mother to withdraw from the world and the two of them – mother and son, created a private world of their own, drawing succor from each other while keeping outside interactions to a minimum. This self imposed quarantine of sorts only bolstered his resolve to protest against whatever he thought was unjust and he could never take kindly rejections and failures. Legend has it that he burned his first collection of short stories “Seven Tales of My Native Land” when it was rejected by publishers. (Davis, 2005) When he returned to Salem after graduation, his habit of remaining closeted within his shell did not leave him. He spent his mornings in studies and his afternoons in writing while he took long solitary walks in the evenings. He started living in his world of dreams and often saw reality through tinted glasses of a dreamer who dreams of utopia. He hardly had any friends in the town and held minimal conversations with his family members, and his meals were more often than not left at the door of his room which was almost always tightly shut. (Miller, 1991) When he became aware of his great-great-grandmother’s prominent role in the infamous Salem Witch Trials (Laurel, 1992), he added an extra ‘w’ to his original surname ‘Hathorne’ simply to break away (symbolically, at least) from the burdens of unpleasant legacy. This gesture loudly proclaimed Hawthorne’s inherent tendency to protest against what he felt was unjust and biased. Scarlet Letter – A Loud Protest against Social Mores of Puritan New England New England of late seventeenth century happened to be the backdrop of this novel and a suffocating Puritan concept of eternal sin and divine retribution for those who dare God and refuse to repent, drips from every page. Hawthorne seethes with rage at the dehumanization of women that was prevalent in that era but a sense of resignation to destiny and hopelessness in the inability to change the existing structure also co-exist in this novel. The illegitimate love affair between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale – an unpardonable act which adultery was in those days, is what the novel is all about. Hawthorne celebrates this rebellion of a woman against the oppressive mores of the society by imparting in Hester an almost superhuman courage and power to face social stigma of illegitimate love and unpardonable adultery for seven long years rather than exposing her beloved and spoiling his career and social standing forever. (Bell, 1980) Puritan Boston in the days of early settlement had social mores which were pretty strict and harsh where adultery had only one punishment – death. Evidence of such strict moral policing can be found in the diary of Governor John Winthrop which has an entry of hanging a couple guilty of adultery. Hester was however spared the capital punishment since it could not be conclusively proved whether her husband was still alive when the so called crime was committed. All that was known about her husband was that he disappeared while coming to New England from Amsterdam. This is another example of Puritan prudery which was mocked at (though ever so subtly) by Hawthorne. The novel was published in 1850, and the Puritanical mores of early settlers had by then got a lot diluted in the gusto of westward expansion and impending shadow of a Civil War. But readers did not fail to note the rebellious spirit of the protagonists of this novel. It was an era of great churning and the spirit of the times was in a way reflected in Hester’s defiance and she became a cultural mascot almost overnight. Hawthorne intrigues the reader when he initially seems to side with the harsh Puritans. In the second chapter of Scarlet Letter he states any pious Christian on seeing Hester exposed to public scorn would have felt "the world was only the darker for this womans beauty, and the more lost for the infant she had borne." He further goes on to paint Hester in darker tones when he says she has “a rich, voluptuous, Oriental characteristic — a taste for the gorgeously beautiful” and almost condemns her even without a trial. (Baym, 1986) In the third chapter, however, he comes to his own and tries to paint a similarity in tribulations and sufferings of Hester and Jesus Himself. She pursues salvation through self-sacrifice much as Christ did when she declares "would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!" Just to ensure that his readers do not miss the point, Hawthorn goes on to ask the burning question "Adultery or no adultery - is this not the Christian message that the pettiness and persecutions of Puritanism evidently missed?" What could be a louder and bolder protest than that? Hawthorn does not rest by elevating Hester to a higher plane. He describes in sixth and seventh chapters the torture inflicted on tiny Pearl (she was only three years old then) and how she becomes fury personified in her attempt to save herself from mindless persecution. The author is forthright in his condemnation of Puritanism when he writes “The truth was, that the little Puritans, being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived, had got a vague idea of something outlandish, unearthly, or at variance with ordinary fashions, in the mother and child; and therefore scorned them in their hearts, and not unfrequently reviled them with their tongues.” When Pearl hits back at her tormentors, Hawthorne bestows in her qualities of Divine retribution when he says “She resembled, in her fierce pursuit of them, an infant pestilence - the scarlet fever, or some such half-fledged angel of judgment, – whose mission was to punish the sins of the rising generation.” Here the reader finds the true Hawthorne – bold and uncompromising in his condemnation of mindless persecution. This reaches a crescendo in seventeenth chapter when Hester meets Arthur after seven years of living hell and declares in an unflinching voice "What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other! Hast thou forgotten it?" What was adultery in the eyes of constricted Puritanism was almost raised to the level divine sanctity by Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Morris, 1927) Religion and Faith shall abide and everything else shall pass Hawthorne, though bitterly critical of early Puritans, was steeped in Puritan principles without of course their messianic zeal and near fanatical adherence to draconian mores of life. He work abounds in tensions between evil and faith and seem to be heavily influenced by the concept of “Original Sin”. This preoccupation with evil in human hearts earned him the accolade of being the first psychological writer of America. He had firm faith in religion as being the only path to salvation and redemption from the sin which is being passed on to every human being since the days of Adam. This fascination with religious overtones is reflected in "Dr. Heideggers Experiment". In this short story Dr. Heidegger tries to play God and attempts to reverse the process of aging by asking his four accomplices to drink the elixir of youth which they do, but in the order of Nature, no such travesty is ever tolerated. The effects of the novel experiment mercifully wear off but Dr. Heidegger had corrupted his accomplices beyond redemption and they rush to their damnation as “They resolved forthwith to make a pilgrimage to Florida, and quaff at morning, noon, and night, from The Fountain of Youth.” (Wright, 2007) Perhaps the same streak of condescension for all those who dare to replicate the perfection that can only be found in the Supreme Being is reflected in "The Birthmark”. Aylmer, a scientist of great erudition and standing simply cannot accept the slight imperfection in his wife Georgiana. She was a lady of immense grace and beauty with just one imperfection – it was a hand shaped birthmark on her face. The author injects a certain sense of ambiguity and confusion in the mind of the protagonist as to whether it was really an imperfection or just another manifestation of beauty when we find him exclaiming "Dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection." But Aylmer wants to play God and convinces Georgiana to allow him to remove the birthmark. Hawthorn views this as a sin where one is trying to impinge upon another’s soul. Aylmer becomes successful in his endeavor, but Georgiana dies, leaving Aylmer all alone in this cavernous universe. (Martin, 1983) Conclusion Hawthorne was steeped in religion and legend has it that if queried on any paragraph or passage in his manuscript, he could always draw some parallel with what he had written and the Bible. He was one of the first writers who brought true America to the high table of pure literature. Not only did the landscape and history of the land find gorgeous mention in his creation but also exploration and attempts at unraveling the dark mysterious recesses of human mind has caused his writings to be equally relevant in today’s world. References Baym, N. (1986). The Scarlet Letter: A Reading. Boston: Twayne. Bell, M. D. (1980). Hawthorne and the Historical Romance of New England. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Davis, C. (2005). Hawthornes Shyness: Ethics, Politics, and the Question of Engagement. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Laurel, V. d. (1992). The Devil in Salem Village:The Story of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Millbrook Press. Martin, T. (1983). Nathaniel Hawthorne. Boston: Twayne Publishers. Miller, E. H. (1991). Salem is my dwelling place: a life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Iowa City: University of Iowa. Morris, L. (1927). The Rebellious Puritan: Portrait of Mr. Hawthorne. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. Wright, S. B. (2007). Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File. Read More