Abstract In this article the writer shows that the themes of injustice and inequality in American life form a common bond that both Hawthorne and Melville would have agreed upon. By analyzing two short tales by these authors, one can find the problems of racism and social injustice that arise in their philosophies on the real America, not the popular nationalism espoused in the Bill of Rights.
From the Paper "In this literary study, the friendship of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville was based upon the premise of human equality and minutiae of human existence within the world's great expanse. Through Hawthorne's "A Minister's Black Veil" and Melville's "Benito Cereno", a comparison between the two stories and their philosophies on human inequality and injustice will be evaluated. In essence, both Melville and Hawthorne sought to use human equality and legal justice as literary devices for dissolving inequalities and injustice within the American society. In Melville's tale "Benito Cereno" two captains must vie for justice regarding a slave ship that has been found off the coast of Chile."
An examination of Herman Melville's use of the color white to convey negative thoughts and emotions: antithetical to common cultural connotations which associate white with such positive concepts as purity and holiness.
Abstract This paper analyzes Melville's innovative manipulation of the color white. The primary concerns include the unsettling effect of a monster "wearing white" and what may have been Melville's attack on racism. Careful attention to syntax, diction and literary style serve as the intellectual support for these ideas.
From the Paper "From a very young age, popular media teaches us that we can spot the good guys from a mile away, based solely on their entirely white costumes. This small piece of conventional wisdom presents a serious problem for Moby Dick's readers, as Herman Melville shrouds his title character, the vicious, homicidal whale in the color traditionally reserved for heroes. Without a close reading of the text, the simple fact that the whale is associated with white might be enough to convince the reader that he is in fact the hero of the story. However, this is not the case, as close reading of the text suggests only Moby Dick's fundamental "naturalness" as well as the whale's ability to serve as a metaphor for the color, and, in turn all of those things for which the color itself serves as a metaphor. The effects of Melville's decision to employ the whale in such a way are numerous, spanning from the simple, unnerving juxtaposition of the color's purity with the whale's monstrosity, to a complex, subtle condemnation of racism."
Abstract This paper analyzes the various criticisms of the short story, "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Hermann Melville, about a laborer's life as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The author examines criticisms by: Nichola Ayo, Hans Bergmann, Michael Bethold whom all approach this short story from different perspectives.
From the Paper "Nichola Ayo in his discussion of "Bartleby the Scrivener" spends only a brief section of the paper analyzing the character of Bartleby himself (exploring a number of theories that have held Bartleby to be a stand-in or metaphor for Melville himself as a man of letters trying to find a place for himself in a world that has very little place indeed for intellectuals). Most of Ayp's discussion is geared to an analysis of the lawyer, and whether or not he has acted properly. "
Abstract This paper iscusses the theme of Herman Melville's story, "Bartleby the Scrivener." The author points out that, as a story of self-destruction, the tale is about a man Bartleby who succumbs to the strain of attempting to conform to the rules of a society, which he no longer believes in. The paper relates that the story is written from the point of view of the narrator and his attempt to save Bartleby.
From the Paper "Herman Melville's creation Bartleby, who appears in his story "Bartleby, the Scrivener", is a man who lives in a highly straightened world. His story is that of a man who at first appears as if he should be able to meet the expectations of his society. Bartleby ..."
Abstract In this paper, Hawthorne provides three different women within three different stories that promote the theme of unattainable love. The women in Hawthorne's short stories die or are invariably unable to love the central male protagonist, but have varying differences of character and destiny that isolate them from a consummation of love's conjoined ideology. The paper describes the way in which Hawthorne has forged tales of romance that deny love and romance to the men and women involved in these three short stories.
From the Paper "This literary study will examine the role of unattainable women in three stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this manner, Annie from "The Artist of the Beautiful", Georgiana in "The Birthmark", and Beatrice in "Rappaccini's Daughter" will be compared and contrasted. By examining the role of the unattainable and distant woman in relation to the plots in these tales, Hawthorne imbues the futility of romance in his short story works. In "Rappaccini's Daughter" the theme of unattainable love revolves around Giovanni and Beatrice, the daughter of the scientist Baglioni. The poisonous plants that the scientist creates have immunized Beatrice, and have had a harmful effect on Giovanni. The repulsion to Beatrice is instilled through her inaccessibility in the poisonous garden."
Abstract This paper explains that Nathaniel Hawthorne lived at a time when science was viewed with equal parts awe and suspicion. Hawthorne was, in fact the descendant of a Protestant minister which may have led to the cautionary tone of his works when writing of science. The paper examines how this cautionary tone is evident in "The Birthmark" and is made apparent by Hawthorne's use of symbolism in the story.
From the Paper "The birthmark in question is a tiny strawberry mark in the shape of a "singular mark" that "bore not a little similarity to a human hand" (Hawthorne 3). Hawthorne's narrator suggests that this tiny hand was a fairy mark. However, given that the union between Aylmer and Georgiana was deemed a spiritual one and that the mark was "deeply interwoven [. . .] with the texture and substance of her face" the power behind that hand would seem to be a much greater one indeed."
Abstract This paper examines Hawthorne's own life and Puritanical beliefs exhibited in his novel ?Young Goodman Brown.? It provides detailed biographical information on the author's life and analyzes the faith and nature of his religious perspective. The paper is loaded with quotes from the novel in support of analytical literary assessments.
From the Paper "Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. Hawthorne had two sisters, Elizabeth and Louisa. He grew up with great access to the classics of English literature, as he injured his foot at age nine and couldn"t play outside for two years. In 1808, his father passed away, and in 1816, his family moved to Raymond, Maine, in a house on Lake Sebago. This provided Hawthorne with much solitude, which he cherished, for three years (Martin 5). In 1819, his mother sent him back to Salem to go to school. It was at this time that he began to write poetry. He also became a bookkeeper for his Uncle William. Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Mass., in 1821, and was the first of his family to attend college. He didn"t know what he wanted to be, however."
Abstract This paper examines and analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables", and "The Marble Faun". It presents the author's criticism of both works and supports that criticism with published criticism.
Abstract This paper compares of the ideas of Cotton Mather and the themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story,"Young Goodman Brown."
From the Paper " From the perspective of it is difficult to credit such an idea until one is reminded of the fundamentalist zeal of Nazis or religious fanatics who blather about great Satans and howl for death to this ..."
Abstract The paper provides an analysis of four critics' views on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Ethan Brand." The paper reviews the plot of the story and examines Brand's innate value system and the value system of his society. The paper concentrates on Brand's quest to commit the "unpardonable sin."
From the Paper "Critical Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Ethan Brand." Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Ethan Brand" is the tale of a man who upsets the balance between his own innate values system and that of a society whose applause he craves. He is presented by Hawthorne as having a heart of marble, impenetrable by real morality and solidified by the workings of pride. The Biblical concept of the Unpardonable Sin is used as the target of the protagonist's quest to locate himself in a world steeped in intellect and reason."
Abstract This paper examines Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," comparing the relationships of the protagonists with the father figures. The paper discusses the symbolic meaning of the father figures and the contrasts between the two stories involving either support or opposition to the father figure.
From the Paper "The relationships of the protagonists with their father figures in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" and Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" are rich with symbolic meaning and pose an interesting contrast to one another. Whereas Kafka's protagonist labors to support and sustain his father, Hawthorne's protagonist is vehemently opposed to the father figure in the story, the devil and attempts to resist him."
Tags: Kafka, Hawthorne, The Metamorphosis , Young Goodman Brown , Bible, father, sin, hypocrisy
Abstract This paper relates that the symbolic characters of Satan, Goody Cloyse and even Martha Carrier represent symbolic characterizations of witchcraft within Salem. The author points out that the female witch is a powerful symbol of witchcraft but only through the root of all evil within Satan's power of illusion. The paper states that, by presenting Satan as the seed of all destruction, immorality and deviance, the symbol of witchcraft lies within Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" making it a tale of good verses evil.
From the Paper "This literary analysis presents the evils present in witchcraft within the story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. By analyzing the characters within this tale, one can discover the various symbols of witchcraft that depict evils that Goodman Brown must overcome in the forest. In this manner, the aspects of symbolic witchcraft are related by the main characters opposing the Bible, which, in turn, depict the nature of witchcraft that abounds in the plot structure of Hawthorne's classic tale of good verses evil. Young Goodman Brown, the main character in Hawthorne's tale, must ultimately search for a greater faith. When he ventures into the forest, he meets his catechism teacher Goody Cloyse, but finds that her faith is challenged."
Abstract In this paper the author analyzes and examines Nathaniel Hawthorne; his life, career, contributions, and works. The author contends that the moral and psychological issues that Hawthorne examines, through the conflicts his characters experience, are often intricate and mysterious and furthermore, that Hawthorne skillfully creates an atmosphere of ambiguity and complexity that makes it difficult to reduce his writings to a simple view of life.
From the paper:
?Hawthorne then moved to Lennox, Massachusetts, where they lived for the following year. It was here that Hawthorne made the acquaintance of Herman Melville, who was writing his first novel, Moby Dick. Hawthorne greatly impacted Melville's writings, and the dedication of Moby Dick to Hawthorne is evidence of the magnitude of this impact.?
Abstract "Young Goodman Brown" is a story of initiation. What Goodman Brown sees in the forest persuades as well as forces him to question. Evil is the nature of mankind. Melville's "Bartelby, the Scrivener" presents an ideal example of this in relation to conformity, non rebellion, and man vs. society. Bartelby is an exaggerated reflection of the Boss, embodying manifested urges. Bartelby is the extreme, absolutist reflection of the Boss's penchant for avoidance. Melville's "Bartelby, the Scrivener" contains mirror imagery that illustrates extremes in the protagonists' personalities. The difference lies in the Boss's ability to learn from Bartelby.
Abstract This paper contends that, through literature, writers subjectively interpret their realities as they experience and perceive them, expressing these realities to other people in the form of prose or poem. The paper discusses and analyzes these subjective realities and feelings about human life in the works of Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Emily Dickinson.
From the Paper "Melville is not alone in his analysis of Hawthorne's works. Hawthorne himself describes his writing and being a writer as an "...attempt to connect a bygone time with the very present that is flitting away from us....pure and uncontrollable mischief...the folly of tumbling down...until an accumulated mass shall be scattered abroad in its original atoms." This passage from the preface of Hawthorne's novel "The House of the Seven Gables" brings into lucidity the fact that humanity, stripped of its conventions and norms of morality, shall "tumble down" and be "scattered...in its original atoms"-that is, humanity shall return to its most natural state, a condition wherein human mind and behavior has no limits, wherein death and insanity is preferred over life and sanity."
