Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Architect of American Literature

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Nathaniel Hawthorne, born on Independence Day of 1807, led an unorganized childhood, transferring schools frequently. Despite all of the chaos surrounding his early life, Hawthorne gained experiences that allowed him to craft novels and short stories which later earned places as classics of American literature.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Elizabeth Manning Hathorne and Nathaniel Hathorne, son of an infamous judge responsible for sentencing many young girls to death for witchcraft (Whitney). Because of this, Hawthorne changed his name from Nathaniel Hathorne to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne found the legacy left by his grandfather and father despicable and changed his name in an effort to distance himself from the name infamous in Salem’s tragic early history (Faculty of European Graduate School). Only four years after Hawthorne’s birth, his father contracted and died of yellow fever. After the loss of the family patriarch, the remaining family moved in with Elizabeth’s brothers. Nathaniel Hawthorne began his attendance at Worcester’s School before being seriously injured. The details surrounding this injury were never chronicled, but it appears that it was during this time Hawthorne acquired his love of reading. After recovering months later, Hawthorne began attending a boarding school in Stroudwater, Maine, in 1818. Nathaniel Hawthorne later returned to his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, to attend Samuel Archer’s School in order to prepare for college. In 1820, Benjamin Oliver tutored Hawthorne in Salem right before Hawthorne’s admission and attendance at Bowdoin College. Throughout his attendance at Bowdoin College, Hawthorne’s social life often took center stage. Hawthorne became friends with the likes of Henry Wadswor...

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Faculty of European Graduate School. "Nathaniel Hawthorne - Biography." 2012. The European Graduate School. 9 April 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Group, 2009.
Newberry, Frederick. "The Custom-House." 2006. American History Through Literature 1820-1870. 11 April 2014.
Whitney, Teri. "Nathaniel Hawthorne's Early Life: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 9 April 2014.
—. "The Wife and Children of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction." 2 April 2014. Hawthorne in Salem. 10 April 2014.

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