Judge Pycheon in The House of the Seven Gables

Judge Pycheon

Kryptonite. Even Superman had a weakness that could lead to his death in a matter of minutes. Why? No man is all-powerful or has no flaws. Does true character always shine through one’s public persona? The answer is no. In the House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne effectively shows his disgust towards Judge Pyncheon whose later exposed as someone different from his public image.

What breathes life and interest into the passage? It is Hawthorne’s deft use of sarcasm and his cunning delivery intertwined with society’s. The first verbal attack is placed in parenthesis as a kind of foot-note revealing his real thoughts alerting to the verbal irony. Hawthorne says " without, in the least, imputing crime to a personage of his eminent responsibility." The part that says " in the least" clarifies that Hawthorne is being sarcastic tone. Moreover, what does Hawthorne call Pyncheon’s whole being and life as? " Splendid rubbish." It would have been an opportune time to just leave it as " rubbish." However, the oxymoron shows how he is holding back and " sugarcoating" the assault with a positive adjective preceding it. It foreshadows the rest of the passage making clear to the reader to not drift off elsewhere. The comment is also a metaphor to Pyncheon’s hypocrisy and " two- facedness" in his lifestyle and moral judgment. The style of delivery used is very distinctive. It seems that the reader is in for a boxing match between Hawthorne’s and society’s view of Pyncheon. For example, Pycheon is placed on a pedestal as having" purity of judicial character, while on the bench." The latter portion of the quote demonstrates the benevolent mask that the Judge is wearing yet only " while on bench." Hawthorne ch...

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...tely not a surprise after the tongue-lashing Hawthorne has obliged him with. He, moreover, says that Pyncheon will not change " except through loss of property or reputation." He is concerned more with having wealth and status than anything else. Not even " sickness...will help him to it; not always the death hour," will break Judge Pyncheon’s stubbornness. The Judge is totally caught up with the public’s holier-than-thou image of him that his he sees himself free of imperfections.

The style of Hawthorne is deft and effective. His examination of Pyncheons two-facedness is formatted like a courtroom interrogation with Pyncheon on the witness chair. The climatic last tirade of the narrator releases all of Hawthorne’s disgust and revulsion in a captivating fashion. The organization and attention to what the reader is expecting keep the argument subtle and critical.