1. Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne was born on July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Mass. and died on May 18, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Hawthorne’s connection to Salem haunted him; therefore, he took the ‘w’ out of his name to disassociate himself with the witch trials.**
His great-grandfather John Hathorne was the chief-interrogator of the “Salem Witches.”
He wrote several successful short stories which were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837).**
Unable to support his family by writing, in 1846 Hawthorne accepted a political appointment to the Salem Custom House as Surveyor of the Port .
-Married Sophia Peabody after a 5 year engagement
-Terminated from political position to then leave Salem altogether; “the abominable city”; nothing remained for him there

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne
His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity.**
Some published works:
The Scarlet Letter, Twice-Told Tales, The House of the Seven Gables, The Mable Faun, Our Old Home, and children’s books A Wonder Book, and Tanglewood Tales.
Known as a Dark Romantic**—
works are notably less optimistic than Transcendental texts about mankind, nature, and divinity.
The natural world is dark, decaying, and mysterious; when it does reveal truth to man, its revelations are evil and hellish.**

3. The Minister’s Black Veil
Set in the time of his Puritan ancestors characterized by “gloom and piety.”
PARABLE—
A short, usually simple story, based on events from ordinary lifem from which a moral lesson is drawn.**
THEME—
a main idea or an underlying meaning**
Guilt vs. Innocence** – a character’s sense of guilt caused by Puritanical values/heritage
SYMBOL—
a person, a place, a thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself**
Ex: The eagle is a symbol of bravery and courage.
Ex: The tall tree that is rotted to the core from “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a symbol for false appearances and hypocrisy.