Nathaniel Hawthorne: In The Know

Hawthorne: In the Know

The events in many authors’ lives often influence their future writings. For example, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was based on events that occurred during a very racist time in history that took place during her childhood. After reading The Scarlet Letter, I began to wonder if certain events in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s life influenced his writing. Indeed, events in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s life influenced some aspects of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne began working at a Custom House in Salem, Massachusetts shortly after graduating from college. While working at the Custom House, he is said to have found inspiration for the novel based on the stories he had heard. (Hawthorne – Biography). I think one possible way he got the idea for the novel is that he had heard a similar story about adultery while working at the Custom House and just built off of it. Another possibility for Hawthorne’s inspiration is that he was an adulterer. “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of Infinite Purity, we are sinners all alike.” (Hawthorne 253-254). Based on this quote from The Scarlet Letter, I believe the narrator was trying to convey the guilt that

Based on the theory that Hawthorne committed a sin such as adultery, I think this quote means it is better to face what you have done, instead of avoiding it. This quote could be said by someone who has committed adultery at the time when they are debating what he right thing to do was; confess your sins or act as if nothing had happened. I think The Scarlet Letter is a good example of that internal struggle of debating whether or not to confess your sins. I believe Nathanial Hawthorne is conveyed through the character of Arthur