Custom House Romanticism

Leija Rothenberg

The Custom House

Romanticism:

When Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter in 1850, he also wrote an essay as a preface for the novel, entitled “The Custom House.” This essay provides a brief backstory for the narrator, focusing mostly on his discovery of Hester’s scarlet letter in the custom house. This retelling of the narrator’s life not only introduces him, but also exemplifies many tenets of Romanticism, as the rest of the novel does. One instance of a Romantic characteristic is the narrator’s introspection. The narrator spends a great deal of the story explaining his passion for writing, while seeming very torn in choosing writing as a career. He attributes this reluctance to his strict Puritan ancestors and

Hawthorne makes a point toward the government that he is dissatisfied, using symbols and his sarcastic tone. The narrator describes a bald eagle statue above the entrance of the custom house that has “[a] bunch of intermingled thunderbolts and barbed arrows in each claw” (3). The eagle is notably a symbol of freedom in America, but the narrator sees it as unwelcoming and even threatening, indicating that the federal government at the time acts too belligerently. The narrator explicitly states his stance on the corruption of the federal government when he says, “[i]n every individual who has occupied the position—is, that, while he leans on the mighty arm of the Republic, his own proper strength departs from him” (32). This explores the idea that the government is also ineffective and does not serve for the well-being of its citizens, explaining why it needs to change. He references Uncle Sam as an ironic dig at the patriotism of America and sarcastically notes that he does not intend to make fun of him, despite the insinuation that the government is corrupt. Because of his harsh criticism of the American government using sarcasm and symbolism, the narrator suggests change in America through this work of