The Whole Earth One Stain of Guilt: Four Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne - Assignment Example

"The Whole Earth One Stain of Guilt Four Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne Guilt is a theme that recurs in the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne-in the novels as well as in the shorter fiction. This paper examines the development of this theme in four tales, "The Birthmark," "The Ambitious Guest," "The Artist of the Beautiful" and "Young Goodman Brown." In the last-named of these we come across the pronouncement, "Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome . . . to the communion of your race." This paper contends that the drift of Hawthorne's work, however, points to another direction-namely, towards the possibility of transcending sin and guilt. "The Birthmark" tells the tale of a man of science, who pursues his vocation at a time when the practice of natural philosophy was still in the process of adapting to some of the methods of modern science. The journal of his scientific experiments "was the sad confession and continual exemplification of the shortcomings of the composite man, the spirit burdened with clay and working in matter, and of the despair that assails the higher nature at finding itself so miserably thwarted by the earthly part." Still, his not-so-petty triumphs make him feel that he can improve upon the handiwork of Nature in removing the one blemish on the body of his beautiful wife Georgiana-a crimson birthmark on her cheek, shaped like a little hand. She is noble enough to admire the loftiness of his aspirations, and notwithstanding the perceived danger to herself, submits to his wishes. Needless to say, the operation is successful, but the patient dies. In dying, however, she dips into the blessing of a "profounder wisdom," which she had, perhaps, all along possessed. If her husband, Aylmer had access to the same fount, "he need not thus have flung away the happiness which would have woven his mortal life of the selfsame texture with the celestial." Yet, no guilt is seen to stain the soul of the pure Georgiana-birthmark or none. "The Ambitious Guest" tells the tale of the undefined and unfulfilled ambition of a young man to leave his mark on the world after his death. His travels bring him to a house in the Notch of the White Hills, surrounded by mountains, and ever in the danger of being annihilated in a landslide. The family was pleased at the diversion of his company although the wind that had preceded his entrance seemed to bode ill, "the dreary blast which heralded his approach . . . wailed as he was entering, and went moaning away from the door." Numerous other ominous signs and portents are seen and heard, but the family falls in the thrall of the young man's words, which make all but the children of the house to think of death and thereafter. As the night darkens, the sound of the slide of rocks is heard, and the people of the house rush outside to 'safety'. Their bodies are never found, while, ironically, the house stands untouched. All who knew them mourn the family, but there was no evidence to suggest the presence of a guest. The author concludes the story with these words: Woe for the high-souled youth, with his dream of Earthly Immortality! His name and person utterly unknown; his history, his way of life, his plans, a mystery never to be solved, his death and his existence equally a doubt! Whose was the agony of that death moment If the young man had indeed been guilty of undeserved ambition and of planting the seeds of his malaise in the rustic household, the children of the house, at least, cannot be assigned any share of the guilt. Owen Warland is " The Artist of the Beautiful," held in more or less friendly contempt by the people of his village who are all 'practical' folk. In contact with the earthier of these, such as Pete Hovendon or Robert Danforth, he feels as if their "brute force" confuse and darken "the spiritual element" within him. The clay and the spirit in him too, are not easily reconciled. His pursuit of beauty and truth is, therefore, somewhat sporadic, but he receives enough inspiration to succeed in capturing the spirit of beauty in a mechanical butterfly that seems no different from, and perhaps, even better than a butterfly of Nature. When this object comes into contact with the dross people to whom he presents it, it perishes, but the serenity of the successful artist remains undisturbed. The story ends with this realization: "When the artist rose high enough to achieve the beautiful, the symbol by which he made it perceptible to mortal senses became of little value in his eyes while his spirit possessed itself in the enjoyment of the reality." Human clay can attain purity in the fire of art and absolve the artist of the human stain. Young Goodman Brown's destiny, in the eponymous story, is more ambiguous. The idea of guilt appears implanted in him by his conference with religious people, and it is perhaps, the feeling that he is too guilty to be saved that gives him a dream vision of a witch-meeting in which most of the people he knows, and even his 'pure' wife Faith is seen to participate. The Black Priest of Hell tells the congregation: By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places-whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest-where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot. The conclusion of the story suggests that Young Goodman Brown has been deluded by his preoccupation with sin and guilt into thinking the worst of himself and others. He "scowled" when his family prayed, and when he died "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom." Hawthorne accepts the notion of the universal human stain but he does not appear to advocate an obsession with the concept. The vague and undeserved ambition of "The Ambitious Guest" may have brought its own nemesis, but so too does Young Goodman Brown's unhealthy preoccupation with Sin and Guilt. Guilt, like Georgiana's birthmark, may remain part of the human condition, but our race is, perhaps, only meant to strive for perfection, and not necessarily to attain it in this world. However, Hawthorne does not preclude even that possibility, as Owen Warland, the Artist of the Beautiful learns. References Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Ambitious Guest." The Literature Network. Web site. Retrieved 2 May 2006. . ------. "The Artist of the Beautiful." The Literature Network. Web site. Retrieved 2 May 2006. -----. "The Birthmark." The Literature Network. Web site. Retrieved 2 May 2006. -----. "Young Goodman Brown." The Literature Network. Web site. Retrieved 2 May 2006. Read More