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Innocence Lost by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Young Goodman Brown present Nathaniel Hawthorne’s belief in the universality of sin. These works provide numerous perspectives into the nature of the human condition and the individual’s role within it. Hawthorne fictionalizes a world where communion with man is essential for spiritual satisfaction. The main characters of these stories face moral dilemmas through their pursuit of human communion. Whether the problems are moral, psychological, or both, Hawthorne insists that the individual must come to affirm a tie with the procession of life, must come to achieve some sense of brotherhood of man. In order to commune with mankind, one has to give up a secure, ordered and innocent world. The individual becomes liable to a fearsome array of complex emotions. One feels alienated by a community that forces himself to corruption while his isolation creates an ambiguity. The newly initiated into the rites of man appears no more moral than those who he disdains. Hawthorne presents a world where communion with mankind leads to corruption while isolation from humans is an unpardonable sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne presents an interesting predicament in man's search for communion with his fellow man. Coming of age in Hawthorne's time requires an affirmation of sin, communion with sinners and celebration of life through sin. Hawthorne creates this environment by grounding the consequences on earth. To feel the universal throb of brotherhood, one must recognize sin, participate in and celebrate it. Hawthorne affirms, recognizes and revels in the depravity of the human condition.
The first fatal step of understanding human nature is a self-conscious probing that ends in confusion. The story of My Kinsmen, Major Molineux presents the youthful character of Robin on his way from the country to the town of Boston. He wishes to succeed within the community, and figures that it will not be difficult because of his connection through Major Molineux, a prominent figure of the community. Hawthorne erodes innocence slowly through the harsh experience of urban realities. Robin’s initial contact with the residents of this community jostles his confidence. He does not yet understand the harshness of adults and happily continues on his way. But Hawthorne underscores the cost of his yearning. Robin has t...
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... later. Camus insists Sisyphus is happy or there is no joy or redemption for life on earth. The profundity of Hawthorne is apparent in his notions of the human condition. Nathaniel Hawthorne concludes his discovery of sin in the human condition at the point of universal appeal. The key for Hawthorne’s understanding of the human condition is the recognition of the universality of sin. So take this work for its imperfections, instead of tormenting these ideas with the harsh meter stick of faithless standards. Nathaniel Hawthorne believes that understanding man is understanding its moral condition of imperfection.
Works Cited:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Ethan Brand”. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1987. 231-244.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”. Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1173-1186.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown”. Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1198-1207.
Stubbs, John C. The Pursuit of Form: a study of Hawthorne and the romance. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1970.
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
Kaul, A. N., Ed.. "HAWTHORNE: A Collection of Critical Essays." Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1966.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1997. 298-308.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Charlottesville, Va: University of Virginia Library, 1996. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Lang, H.J.. “How Ambiguous Is Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. �Young Goodman Brown.� Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays and Essays. Fourth Edition. Ed. Judith A. Stanford. Boston, 2003. 161-171.
Hawthorne’s depiction of artificiality of the city helps develop the Romantic style writing in “Young Goodman Brown.” For example, Goodman Brown enters a quest into
Kopley, Richard. “Hawthorne’s transplanting and transforming ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’”. GALE Studies in American Fiction 23.2 (1995): 231-234
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol1. Ed. Nina Baym, et al. New York: Norton, 1994. 1198-1207.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.
Nathanial Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin trough Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth who all affected by sin in different ways. Utilizing powerful symbols and light/dark imagery, Hawthorne conveys to the readers, through these characters, the power of how one’s response to sin can positively change an individual or gradually destroy one by spreading like a contagious disease and ultimately consuming the victim.
Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Revised Edition. Twayne’s United States Authors Series. G.K. Hall & Company. Massachusetts. 1983.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 329-37. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. American Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. 592-778. Print.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.