Empathy In The Scarlet Letter

Many readers like to know about the author of the book they are reading; whether it be an author showing bits and pieces of themselves through their writing or through a small autobiography. Hawthorne allows the reader a small and rare glance into his life and his personal feelings as well as sharing a connection with the reader in the preface of “The Scarlet Letter.” Hawthorne’s familiar and personal tone in the preface draws upon the reader’s empathy, eases the reader into the 1600s, and allows a stimulation of the reader’s imagination. Hawthorne draws a sense of empathy from the reader in “The Custom-House” by sharing parts of his life that large quantities of people can relate to. Although he is a very private man his theory for sharing bits and pieces of himself can be described “as thoughts are frozen and utterance benumbed, unless the speaker stand in some true relation with his audience-it may be pardonable to imagine that a friend, a kind and apprehensive, though not the closest friend, is listening to our talk; and then, a native reserve being thawed by this genial consciousness, we may prate of the circumstances that lie around us, and even of our self, but still keep the inmost Me behind its veil.” (Hawthorne 451) Hawthorne is basically saying that words are just words if the reader is not

The warm light from the fire mixed with the moonbeams creates a creative environment for Hawthorne as well as the audience because of his talent for