An Evening with a Transcendentalist: Nathaniel Hawthorne

An Evening with a Transcendentalist: Nathaniel Hawthorne

If I had to choose a famous romantic or transcendental writer to spend an evening with, I would have to choose Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was a man who left behind very few complete works, but was both "a Ð''romancer' and a realist" that became known as the master of his classic literary style. Nathaniel Hawthorne not only wrote incredible novels, compiled notebooks, and published imaginative tales, but he also delved into the fields of psychology and politics and incorporated his own experiences into all he did in his lifetime. Thus, Hawthorne became a wise man who learned from his mistakes and from others. Hawthorne used his writing as a way to express his views about history and current societal conflicts. Nathaniel Hawthorne had to surmount many hardships and challenges while rising to be known as the author of one of the greatest American novels, and yet he was still seemed like an average guy.

Many of the great works of Nathaniel Hawthorne expose some of his interests and life events, other than writing. Some of his other interests included politics, psychology and philosophy. During Hawthorne's college years in Maine, he made some of his lifelong friends. One was Franklin pierce who became the 14th president of the United States. Hawthorne fallowed Franklin Pierce's campaigns through politics from their college years forward. Later in his life, Hawthorne got involved and was asked to write the campaign biography for Pierce, and once he was elected, President Pierce he chose Hawthorne to hold consulship in Liverpool, England. In prior years, in order to earn money for his family, Hawthorne had to work at The Custom House which was a government service. At the custom House, he developed his political views as a Democrat. A general occurrence in many of Hawthorne's works is psychology. Hawthorne looked deeply into life and the facts of humans as well as guilt and anxiety that humans face. An example of this occurs in The Scarlet Letter when Hester Prynne as well as Dimmesdale feels that the sins that they have committed bring out their guilt and make them feel anxiety. "old Roger Chillingworth followed, as one intimately connected with the drama of guilt and sorrow in which they had all been actors, and well entitled, therefore to be present at it's closing scene." (The Scarlet Letter, when Dimmesdale takes up the scaffold) The Marble Faun, another work by Hawthorne that pertains to sin, reveals development of a soul under the influence of a committed sin. Hawthorne tended to explore the hidden motivations of characters using the psychology he absorbed during his studies in college. Experiences that sparked Nathaniel Hawthorne's imagination to write frequently show up in his stories and other writings. A few examples of this occurred when he wrote The House of The Seven Gables based upon an old family curse which caused him to change the spelling of his last name, The Blithedale Romance was inspired from his time at Brook Farm, and his life in Italy helped him to write The Marble Faun.

The hardships in Hawthorne's life made him seem like an average man, yet he wrote amazing pieces of writing. Nathaniel's childhood and family history make up his personality and his writing style. When he was a young boy, his father died and he was left with his grieving mother. He spent years in seclusion and solitude. He was a shy, lonely and sensitive child who enjoyed the freedom of