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Literary Analysis: Literary Analysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne: Literary Analysis Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, “Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” This means that time may fly by but what you leave behind stays. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American romantic novelist and short story writer during the nineteenth century. Although Hawthorne lived in a time before awards, he was highly regarded and he and his works are still idolized and taught today. His most famous works are The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter being the most famous. Hawthorne wrote works influenced by what he experienced throughout the period of his life. Hawthorne was born into a tough family situation. He was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts …show more content…

It was such a major blow both emotionally and financially that they, as a result, were forced to move in with his wealthy uncles (“Nathaniel Hawthorne Author (1804-1864)”). Without the support of his father financially, his mother, who in this time period would not be able to hold down a job, decided it was best for them to move in with her brothers. This decision most likely also greatly increased the family’s happiness and possibly gave them a new father figure in their uncles. During all this Hawthorne was immobilized by a leg injury (“Nathaniel Hawthorne Author (1804-1864)”). This injury, however, gave him the opportunity to find a passion for reading and writing, foreshadowing his career as an …show more content…

With the help of his wealthy uncles he attended Bowdoin College (Gerber 115). They paid for the expenses seeing that his mother was unable. Hawthorne attended college from 1821-1825 (Van Doren 424). At Bowdoin he had a lot of time to develop his writing skills independently. Due to a lack of formal writing instruction he was a self-taught writer (Gerber 115). This made his writing genius even more awe-inspiring. Outside of college he worked as a surveyor of the Salem Custom House (“Nathaniel Hawthorne Author (1804-1864)”). He enjoyed this job which was an escape from his other duties. Because of his youthful love for reading and dislike for business Hawthorne wanted to become a writer long before he later decided to study it at Bowdoin (Marks 1611-1612). This most likely happened in accordance to his young leg injury aforementioned. Towards the time when he needed to decide, however, Hawthorne struggled to decide whether or not to pursue a career in writing, considering that it was not a respected profession in his time period (Griffin 308). Nevertheless, he chose to pursue his passion in writing in spite of the tough decision, leading him into the end of his college career and plunging him into the world of

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