Ever
have an ancient story or tradition passed down through family? People
might even treat you differently because of your family name or
legacy. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, The House of the Seven
Gables, the reader is introduced to one family with a cursed name,
recounting every previous generation as far back as the first
ancestor. This novel not only revolves around family and
superstitious tradition but also the most practical and mature way of
facing it. People are going to have their superstitious stories about
a certain group or family, but the reality is that there's nothing
really to do about it. Once someone's long gone, there's nothing that
someone can do to change that. The main theme behind this novel is
that people can slander a person's name, but there's nothing that
person can do but accept and deal with it.
To
recap, the story centers around the Pyncheons, a family cursed in the
beginning by a revenge-seeking wizard. Since then, only superstitious
gossip has surrounded the House and all Pyncheon descendants. Each of
the descendants currently living in Hawthorne's work represent the
effects of what this superstition can do to a person. Hepzibah hasn't
left the House in years and has fallen into a gloomy, emotional
decay, just as the House itself has physically. She, like the House,
has been wrecked by superstitious gossip and time's effect on it.
Phoebe, the youngest descendant, is extremely upbeat and
revitalizing, as she was isolated from the House and its gossip for
all of her life prior to the novel's events. Clifford, the liberated
convict, is much like Phoebe in terms of innocence. However, he grew
up with the same superstitious influence, molding his rough exterior
and damaged intelligence. Judge Pyncehon represents the positive
outcome of gossip. He used his famous name to build a reputation
instead of rot with the House. He escaped from the rumors, which the
House itself appears to represent, as it only crumbles with time. The
strongest evidence connecting the theme to these symbols would be the
daguerreotypist's intellectual comment, "we must be dead
ourselves before we can begin before we can begin to have proper
influence which will then be . . . the world of another generation,
which we have no shadow of a right to interfere" (Hawthorne
188). The daguerreotypist, an omniscient resident in the House,
presents his realistic, unique viewpoint. Sometimes it takes an
outside, non-biased source to discover the truth of the matter.
Hawthorne's
novel is a perfect example of how to maturely handle superstition and
gossip. Pay no attention, for it doesn't matter and will only do
harm.
Word
Count: 400 (minus passage citation)