1. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”
Cecilia H. C. Liu
American Literature I
11/1/2004

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne the Man
The events of 1692 in Salem haunted him, especially as his great-grandfather was a judge in the witchcraft trials.
The Hawthorne family lived in Concord after they married, but returned to Salem late in 1845, and took the position of Surveyor of the Port at the Salem Custom House in 1846.
After both losing his job and his mother’s death not long after 1849, Hawthorne announced his wish to leave Salem, which he called "that abominable city," without any reason to remain.
The Hawthornes left Salem in 1850, but never returned there to live. Yet, Salem continued to permeate Hawthorne's life, remaining as the setting for many of his literary works.

3. Nathaniel Hawthorne Was…
Brooded in solitude upon the gloomier aspects of Puritan New England
Exploited his antiquarian enthusiasms and his understanding of the colonial history of New England
Absorbed by the enigmas of evil and of moral responsibility, interwoven with man’s destiny in nature and in eternity

4. “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”
To transmute an historical phenomenon into an elemental condition of existence
History as moral adventure
Setting: New England, 1730s
Robin, a shrewd youth, 18 year old
Symbolic encounters on his journey to find his kinsman
Symbolic rebellion against the father figure; subsequent hostility to authority

5. Six Encounters 1st attempt: an old gentleman in front of a barber shop
2nd attempt: the innkeeper
3rd attempt: a woman with scarlet petticoat
4th attempt: a watchman
5th attempt: a man with 2 color (black/red) face
6th attempt: a kindly gentleman

6. Symbols Cudgel: brutal force/youthful confidence
--An emblem of the life Robin has left behind him in the quietly uncomplicated rustic town in which he has been reared
Scarlet petticoat: passion/seduction
Dream (fancy)/reality—ambiguity
Robin’s recognition: Pity/terror
Disturbing outburst of laughter

7. Disturbing Outburst of Laughter
Robin watches the cruel tarring and feathering of his once-respected relative: --unconscious joy in being released from parental authority
--laugh at his own ignorance
--laugh at the ridiculous situation

8. Symbolic Meaning
The function of “preface” in the beginning of the story
Streets/roads
Red/black: blood and death in war
Freedom dependence
independence subjugation to authority
Repressed hostility outburst of laughter
adulthood with independence

9. Literary Works of Hawthorne
Faith and Religion
“The Minister's Black Veil”
“Young Goodman Brown“
Quakers and Accused Witches
"Main-Street“
Women in Hawthorne
“Rappaccini's Daughter“
The House of the Seven Gables
The Scarlet Letter

10. Hawthorne’s Interest in Puritanism
It is not necessary to doubt that Nathaniel Hawthorne is interested in Puritanism and the mistreatment they got from the Quakers as well as the later persecution in Salem in 1692.
Hawthorne's ancestor, William Hathorne was instrumental in the scourging of Quakers during the 1650's and William's son, John, was among those who sat in judgment of those accused of witchcraft almost forty years later.
Shy and almost reclusive, Hawthorne could have have felt a special kind of empathy for those so publicly and unjustly tormented and may have felt a peculiar and disagreeable connection to those early members of his family who were partly responsible for that torment.

11. Works Cited Hawthorne in Salem. http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org
Nathaniel Hawthorne, ( )