Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of American literature's finest writers; his writing style was very distinct and unusual in some aspects. It is his background that provided this ambiguous and complex approach to writing. Hawthorne's New England heritage has, at times, been said to be the contributing factor in his works. The Puritan view of life itself was considered to be allegorical, their theology rested primarily on the idea of predestination and the separation of the saved and the damned As evident from Hawthorne's writings his intense interest in Puritanical beliefs often carried over to his novels such as, Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlet Letter, and The Minister's Black Veil just to name a few of the more well known pieces of his work. Often he would receive criticism for this unconditional style; Ralph Waldo Emerson, a popular author of the era, once even complained, " He invites his readers too much into his study, opens the process before them. As if the confectioner should say to his customers,‘ Now, let us make a cake.' "(Emerson 51). Although Emerson may be right in what he said, Hawthorne does seem to "help" the reader create the story in their mind as to what it should be but he doesn't do it all himself, he simply leaves it up to his audience for their open interpretation. Had Hawthorne followed the advice of his peers to "throw his allegorizing out the window", he would have lost the essential element on which most of his works are based.

The short story that just "screamed" allegory was Young Goodman Brown. Author Herman Melville once exclaimed, " …One would suppose that "Young Goodman Brown" was "a simple little tale, intended as a supplement to ‘goody Two- shoes'. Whereas it is as deep as Dante."(Melville 89)...

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...cause he had "secret sin" of his own and he didn't want the world to see it in his eyes? Maybe though he was taking the high road and distancing himself from his congregation and community because he had a dream or vision like Goodman Brown about the misdeeds of his parishioners.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's elusive writing technique is what allowed him to stand out from the crowd. His stories were not only to be taken for the entertaining quality that they possessed but for their affirmations on life and the way it should be lived. His allegorical style was not only to be looked at in amazement as to how someone could weave such intricacies into their stories as he did but with admiration for someone who had so much faith in his religion.