Critical Commentary on The Custom House by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Essay Example

Critical commentary on the passage from: Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘The Custom House’ House’Introduction Hawthorne, one of the renowned writers in history wrote “The Scarlet Letter”, which having been considered his (Hawthorne) magnum opus was published in 1850. The American novel tells the story of Hester Prynne after giving birth to the fruit an adulterous act1. She however, refuses to name the father of the child and struggles throughout to live a life of repentance and dignity2. The main themes of the books are grace, legalism, sin, and guilt that individuals have to go through on daily basis as a result of their actions. The scarlet letter is a final product of the narrator’s attempt to write a fictional account of the events recorded in a manuscript3. The manuscript was written by a past surveyor, Jonathan Pue, providing the details of the trials of Hutchinson’s murderers. This American novel is believed to be one of the best during its time hence has so far attracted many interests from different scholars. The following is a critical commentary on a specific passage describing the narrator’s old town of Salem. While making the critical commentary it is important to identify the significance of the passage in arousing interest to a student of American literature and culture. Consequently, this entails a critical focus on the significant themes, ideas, rhetorical and stylistic features within the passage. Specifically, the critical commentary will focus on aspects of lexical choice, idiom, vocabulary, diction, and the use of tone in passing the message to audience or readers as applied by the narrator. The Passage The passage under critical commentary comes immediately after the narrator has given a description of the office occupied by the former Locofoco Surveyor. Locofoco Surveyor had lost his office due to pressures of reform giving opportunity for other people as well. In the passage, the narrator vividly describes the old town of Salem being his native place. A great idea that comes from this description is that in many circumstances or situations individuals fail to appreciate their environment. The narrator says, “though... a hold on my affections, the force which I have realized during my seasons of actual residence”4. Interestingly, American culture is full of people who do not appreciate their culture as well as their environment5. The message the writer through the narrators aims to send is that every aspect of the society of culture is very significant hence there is no need of despising some aspects. The narrator gives all negative description of Salem but ends up by saying, “though invariably happiest elsewhere, there is within me a feeling of old Salem, which, in lack of a better phrase”6. Even though the writer through the narrator aims at encouraging patriotism, this is more than it. The idea is calling on individuals to be sensitive on their origin. It is true that there are cultural aspects that disgust but this should not be a reason to despise such cultural aspects or even the people who have been brought up in it. Societal cultures are significant not only to students of American literature and culture but also to every one within the environs of the society. What’s more, it is through understanding various aspects of culture that enhances individual comprehension of different forms of behaviour exhibited within a society. The narrator provides a vivid description of how the community living in old town of Salem are but this does not prevent him from loving the place and everything in it. This describes the theme of identity and society. There is need for individuals to understand their identity and society. One of the main themes in this passage that correlates to the whole text is that of sin. Hawthorne throughout the text has developed the theme of sin. In this passage, the narrator remembers a soldier, legislator, and an individual who was once a ruler in the Church. From a normal perspective it is expected that the church should be used in reforming behaviours in a society. Amazingly, the character as identified by narrator was a “bitter persecutor; as witnessed with Quakers”. The son was equally evil whilst conspicuously being identified as a witch within the society7. Like contemporary society, the society in old town of Seldom was wicked hence exhibiting high levels of evil actions. Church leaders are meant to be at the forefront in ensuring that a society adopts virtues while discerning vices and other forms of evil. A literature and culture student would want to relate this concept to contemporary society. Currently there is a lot of social and moral decay across every aspects of the society, church inclusive. Hawthorne’s novel though written in the 1850 depicts the current society where various aspects of the society that are meant to provide direction, such as the church, are full of evil. Apart from the themes of identity, society, and nature of evil (sin), the passage also portrays the theme of grace and guilt. The narrator is disturbed by guilt of what other people think about him. “What is he?”8 This is one question that the villagers continuously ask that disturbs the narrator a great deal. It is true that his life has not been full of success but this is not a reason enough to allow guilt of the society talks affect him. In the passage, the narrator also describes how he had experienced being disgraced9. Current society is full of hate speech and guilt in addition to disgrace. From the perspective of Hawthorne, a literature student will be able to comprehend current behavioural traits exhibited across the society10. Notably, individuals who are disturbed by guilt never establish an opportunity to prosper or succeed. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne has attempted to explain the themes of guilt and disgrace11. For instance, when Hester Prynne gives birth to a product of an adulterous act, she forever lives with the guilt12. Guilt does not provide an opportunity for growth but rather an individual continues to live in oppression. Another important idea or message that may arouse interest is the fact that planting human nature in the same environment is not likely to bear any useful fruit. The author compares this to the nature of a potato that can thrive very well when planted and re-planted within the same region13. The message in these words is that human nature required to nurtured like that of a potato though should be in different regions exposing human nature to different regions leads to adequate exposure required in growth and development. Therefore, it is important from the sentiments expressed by the author that human nature be nurtured in different regions. In any case, Hawthorne is interested in encouraging socialization within a given society for the benefits of understanding cultural diversity in the global arena14. This is brought out very well not only in the passage but throughout the text when the narrator resides in different places thus enabling him to understand and appreciate cultural diversity. Other than the themes discussed above, which may interests an American literature and culture student, the passage contains rhetorical and stylistic features such as lexical choice, idiom, vocabulary, diction, and the use of tone. The author uses these stylistic devices not only to pass the message but also make reading the novel interesting. While employing diction, Hawthorne fluently articulates his idea within the novel. In addition, the author uses to a great extent the use of lexical choice15. Lexical choice involves the use of semantic representation of some kind whilst enriching the same with pragmatic attributes. In this passage, Hawthorne uses words such as boy, old, man of war and peace, soldier, legislator, and judge amongst others. On a different perspective, Hawthorne uses various forms of vocabulary, diction, idioms, and use of tone. For instance, grandeur, tempestuous, dreary, and flourish are some of the vocabularies that the author uses in passing his message. Imagery (similes and metaphors) has also been used as a stylistic device in articulating the message to the readers. For instance, Hawthorne compares human nature with that of potato as regards the required environment for nurturing both of them. Hawthorne also compares Salamite’s lack of oyster with tenacity of old settler, “he has no conception of the oyster — like tenacity with which an old settler; just as powerfully as if the natal spot were an earthly paradise and made so large a figure, as a man of war and peace”. Apart from the use of metaphor, a literature student will also be interested in the use of rhymes within the passage. The author uses different sets of rhymes that include assonance and consonance. For instance, dim and dusk; sire and grandsire; and birth and burial amongst others are some of the rhymes that may arouse interest on a literature and culture student16. Conclusion Following through the passage, it is clear that Hawthorne wanted to educate the community on various aspects of culture. This American novel does not only entertain and educate but also act as a mirror to the society through which they can be able to understand various behavioural aspects of individuals. Works Cited Baym, Nina, et al. (2007). The Norton anthology of American literature. 7th Ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007. Print. Bloom, Harold (2004). Nathaniel Hawthorne's The scarlet letter. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Leland S. Person (2005). The scarlet letter and other writings: authoritative texts, contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2005. Print. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 2007. ‘The Custom House’ (preface to The Scarlet Letter), Oxford World Classics, New edition 2007, reissued 2008. Meltzer, Milton (2007). Nathaniel Hawthorne: a biography. London: Twenty-First Century Books, 2007. Print. Sterling, Laurie, and Harold Bloom (2008). Bloom's how to write about Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2008. Print. 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