Hawthornes life versus life in
Hawthornes life versus life inHawthorne’s Life Versus Life In The Scarlet Letter
To understand a book the reader must understand the background and lifetime of
the author. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s childhood was one in which he was brought up by a
conservative family in a Puritan Community. He was not totally sold on his culture’s
ideas on many subjects. His own uncle was a judge in the witch trials of Salem.
Hawthorne was embarrassed about his uncle and his involvement in the witch trials.
Hawthorne was born July 4, 1804 and the only son of Captain and Elizabeth Clarke
Manning Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s father died when he was four, so he was brought up
mainly by his mother. His mother moved his family to her uncle’s house, where she
distanced herself from Hawthorne. After she left he was brought up by his grandmother.
She was an avid Puritan and instilled these beliefs into Nathaniel Hawthorne. He felt so
distanced from his family he added a “w” to his last name so it would be different.
Hawthorne’s education was not the norm for a Puritan boy. He was injured when
he was nine, so he did not go to school, which was no problem for Hawthorne who was
not a big fan of school at the time. This time allowed for Hawthorne to explore and do
many things other children could not do because of school. During Hawthorne’s early
childhood he did a lot of soul searching and finding his place in society. After he
recovered from his injury he resumed school and went to Bowdoin College. He was an
average student there and graduated in the middle of his class. After graduating he went
spent twelve years in “this dismal chamber” which was a room in his mother’s home.
In the twelve years that Hawthorne spent in seclusion, he perfected his skills as an
author. He published his first book, Fanshaw: A Tale, and was unsatisfied with it and
tried to remove all the copies he could find from circulation. He then began to publish
stories in newspapers and books, these books contained stories from many different
authors but were related in the subject matter they discussed. His first story that gained
him fame was the first volume of Twice-Told Tales. He later began to struggle
financially, so he started to work a normal job and try to earn enough money to support...
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