How Did Nathaniel Hawthorne Write The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, Nathaniel Hawthorne has had lots of influence in his life that caused him to write The Scarlet Letter. Possibly his greatest influence for writing this novel came from his earliest American ancestor, William Hawthorne. William Hawthorne was a magistrate who condemned a Quaker woman to public whipping. William Hawthorne believed strongly in Puritan orthodoxy because it believed in a pure unaltered form of religious worship, it followed an extremely simple way of life, and its views of the “natural depravity” of “fallen” men. In addition to family history, his passion for writing in college contributed to writing The Scarlet Letter. He went to Bowdoin College for four years in Brunswick, Maine.

When he graduated, he published his first novel, Fanshawe. He was soon disappointed by this novel, so he attempted to destroy all of the copies. He did eventually find his own voice, style, and subjects. He had written lots of short stories since then, but they did not provide him with an adequate income. In 1842, Nathaniel had acquired enough money to marry Sophia Peabody and rent the Old Manse in Concord. In 1845, Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family returned to Salem due to immense debt and a new job opportunity. Nathaniel was offered the job of surveyor of the Custom House. Since he was a loyal Democrat, he was able to gain enough connections to be offered this job. After three years, Nathaniel lost his job due to the new presidential administration under Zachary Taylor. After a few months of hard work, Nathaniel produced his most popular novel, The Scarlet Letter. He eventually passed away on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. However, his written works, especially The Scarlet Letter, have continued to live on until this