Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist-cum-short
story writer, born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1804. He was a romantic novelist and short story
writer who flirted with various styles and themes. Unlike his contemporary
transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David, he is a dark
romanticist who produced a plethora of works of great merit. He is widely known
for his short stories and two best-known novels: The Scarlet Letter and The
House of Seven Gables. Hawthorne mastered the art of writing allegorical and
symbolic tales that leave a moral influence on readers as most of his short
stories are didactic.
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As mentioned, most of his literary work belongs to the
sub-genre of dark romanticism, he believes in human weakness and fallibility. Unlike
romanticists who believe in the innate goodness in human nature, dark
romanticists are pessimists for whom humans are sinful by nature and carry with
them self-destructive tools. Dark romanticists emphasize the in-built tendency
in humans to make mistakes that eventually cause their downfall. They also shed
light on the psychological effects of guilt and sin. For them, the road to hell
is paved with good intentions and that even the most appreciated things that
one does can have unintended consequences.
Hawthorne authored various short stories and published
them anonymously in The New-England Magazine and The United States Democratic
Review, before publishing his first collection of tales in 1837. Most of his
short stories and novels that are read as moral allegories are set in colonial
New England. Hawthorne, during his early years of writing, was a prominent
member of the Transcendentalists club Brook Farm. He was greatly influenced by
the prominent circle of Massachusetts writers and philosophers. However, as he
matured he relinquished the ideals and principles of this community and even
satirized his experiences in this club in his novel The Bilthedale Romance. It
is still a hard nut to crack to point out what exactly changed his youthful
idealism into old-age pessimism. However, critics believe that his later
experiences in the real world might have influenced his perception of the real
world and the people living around him. He began to suspect that people have a
natural tendency for doing sins and blunders that happens often out of good
intentions.
Hawthorne has extensively opted for the use of symbolism
to convey an idea to the readers. Symbolism was a popular literary device of
romanticists and dark romanticists. Symbolism is a literary technique in which
an object represents an idea. Symbols can be a place, character, or thing that
stands for something other than its literal meaning. Symbolism in Hawthorne's
works represents sins committed by the people, feeling of guilt, and the
uncertainties of good and evil. Hawthorne's writing is full of symbolic
characters, settings, and objects. In The Minister's Black Veil, Hawthorne has
artfully used symbolism to teach a moral lesson. The most prominent symbol in
the story is the 'black veil'. The veil is a symbol of sin that separates
people from God, and each other. Since all people are sinful, they are
separated from perfection by the guilt and secrecy of their veiled sins. Using
the veil, Mr.Hooper intends to convince his followers to reveal their true nature
but instead alienates himself. Allegorically, It is not Mr.Hooper who wears a
veil, but the people who hide their true faces behind the veil of goodness.
Ironically, the people whom Mr.Hopper intends to reform, begin to suspect that
the minister has committed a dreadful sin.
Scores of his short stories depict the protagonists
involved in a kind of inner struggle to keep their religious faith intact and
get rid of the burden of guilt. Most of his stories are set in Puritan New
England. Thus, he alludes to witchcraft in some stories, as he was intensely
impacted by the Salem Witch Trials and his ancestors' role in them. Young
Goodman Brown is a textbook example of a short story that depicts the inner
struggle of the protagonist against joining the forces of the devil. The raging
internal conflict transforms Brown into a changed man. Brown must decide
whether he should be a part of the Black Sabbath and become the devil's comrade
or he should keep his religiosity intact and go back to his pink-ribboned Faith.
Dark romanticism is all-pervasive in the story as he discovers that people who
pretend to be good are part of the Sabbath and have become the devil's
comrades. After that fateful night, Goodman Brown becomes a changed man. He has
lost his innocence, his faith in himself and his villagers. This conflict is
the theme of the story and reflects on the society of the time.
Hawthorne has created protagonists who cannot throw off
the yoke of guilt. After undergoing a kind of psychological transformation they
exhibit an unloving and uncaring attitude toward people around them.. Brown in
Young Goodman Brown, and Parson Hooper of The Minister's Black Veil, are
examples of such guilt-ridden and awe-struck protagonists.
For Gothic fiction writers and dark romanticists, nature
is not the instant analgesic agent that soothes both physical and emotional
pain. It is not a shelter to which one can run away from the miseries of the
world. It is neither a haven that would open its arms to take one out of his
sufferings. Rather, nature for Hawthorne often represents something to fear; it
is uncertain territory. Going into the lap of nature for them is like entering
into unchartered waters; anything can happen.
Supernatural elements form an important part of his
plots. Supernatural can be defined as a force beyond the realm of human
understanding which often defies the laws of nature; it can have good or evil
associations. Hawthorne plays with the supernatural in his stories to magnify
the emotions related to the unknown territory. Supernatural in Hawthorne plays
is also meant to create feelings of awe and fear in the readers. The
supernatural in Young Goodman Brown appears in the form of a devil.
To conclude, Hawthorne made good use of his literary
genius to enter into the psychological world of his characters and describe the
inner struggle that they go through. He has not just portrayed nature
thoroughly but has also depicted the supernatural incredibly. His use of irony,
symbolism and allegory as a way to convey his moral ideas still excite the
readers.
The article is written by Asif Abbas, a member of the School of Literature.
