Reference no: EM133373216

In the document on Nathaniel Hawthorne (found in Content), I give five predominant themes that can be found in Hawthorne.   Choose three themes and demonstrate how they can be seen in the Hawthorne short stories that we studied - "The Birthmark," "Young Goodman Brown," and "My Kinsman Major Molineux."  Here are your guidelines:

1.  You must write in complete sentences, but you MAY approach the answer in bullet form rather than writing a cohesive essay.

2.  You should give specific examples on how you find a particular theme in a particular work.  HOWEVER, You MAY NOT repeat any examples that I have given in my discussion of that theme. 

Each theme receives five points.  You only have to give one example from one story for each theme; however, you are welcome to discuss the theme in all three if you would like.

Three themes/three examples.  That is all.  

Themes in Hawthorne:

1. The subconscious.  Like Poe, Hawthorne is concerned with internal struggles and dilemmas, and what lies beneath the conscious.  While Emerson calls on individuals to "trust thyself" and listen to their inner voices, Hawthorne seems to respond with a question - Which inner voice do I listen to?  Consider Robin Molineux who, on the surface, appears to be looking for his uncle's residence - and he is.  However, he subconsciously to be trying to subvert that intention..  He does not think to ask the ferryman for directions, and he walks near the harbor, although he smells the tar, doubtful that his kinsman's residence would be in such a place.  There are inner forces that tempt Robin to explore the more lurid sections of the city as he does.
2. Loss of innocence.  Many of Hawthorne's characters wander into unfamiliar territories, sometimes representative of inner explorations, as in the allegorical "My Kinsman, Major Molineux."
3. Sin (inherited, hidden, exposing).  Melville wrote of his friend Hawthorne, "Certain it is, however, that this great power of blackness in him derives its force from its appeals to that Calvinistic sense of Innate Depravity and Original Sin, from whose visitations, in some shape or other, no deeply thinking mind is always wholly free."  Notice the words in bold; for Hawthorne and Melville, the truly thinking mind cannot ignore the realities of sin in this world, yet the Transcendentalists seem to ignore the sin problem.  This is clearly a point where Hawthorne is "anti-Transcendentalist."  Many of Hawthorne's characters are obsessed with sin.  Think about the themes in his greatest novel, The Scarlet Letter.  We also see children suffering for the sins of their fathers ("Rappaccini's Daughter") and individuals deeply affected by hidden sin (The Scarlet Letter).  Hawthorne is rarely concerned with the sin itself; instead he focuses on the effects of sin on sinners and those close to them.
4. Search for knowledge or perfection.  When Hawthorne's characters strive for perfection of any sort, the results are devastating for them and their families.  Hawthorne explores the dangers and the tragic effects of intellectual pride ("The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter")
5. Ambiguity.  Hawthorne is intentionally ambiguous.  He does not offer easy explanations and solutions.  He often interplays light-dark imagery to suggest not only an awareness of the polarities but also the realization that polarities cannot always be reconciled.  Very rarely in Hawthorne are characters completely good or admirable, and very rarely do allegories lend themselves to neat interpretations.