FREE ESSAY ON HAWTHORNE'S BARTELBY THE SCRIVENER

HAWTHORNE'S BARTELBY THE SCRIVENER

I began my Hawthorne reading task with The Birth-Mark. I picked this story because I am
familiar with the Maypole of Merrymount and Young Goodman Brown, and I wanted to try
something different. I was pleasantly surprised with The Birth-Mark, in my mind it far
surpasses the latter two stories.
I think one of the most admirable traits of Hawthorne is his ability to write as though
actions are taking place somewhere in the present. Aylmer could very well live today,
somewhere in the world with his laboratory in the backyard. Men like Young Goodman Brown
are everywhere in today's society, and, still, there are those who try and destroy that
which they do not understand or refuse to understand like the Puritans in The Maypole of
Merrymount.
The Birth-Mark grapples with the scientific progress of the time. I think the theme of
humans trying to control nature with unfavorable results is prevalent in many works of
the time, most notably Frankenstein. The fixation that Aylmer has on Georgiana's
birthmark is unnatural. Hawthorne correlates this quest for perfection with Aylmer's
intentions of formulating an elixir of life and mastering the art of alchemy. Maybe
Hawthorne is drawing a parallel here between the scientists of his day trying to control
nature and by the failure of scientists to do this in the past. Aylmer's attempt to
control nature leads to the death of his wife which is unnecessary, she is quite content
with the minor facial blemish until he makes a big deal about it. Maybe this too is a
parallel between the mass majority being content with the state of the world and a
certain few who would like to make it better, and, in turn, destroy it. I can understand
Hawthorne's idea. I live in constant fear of nuclear war and the technology that has made
it available. But, I am grateful for the medical advances we have today. It is a
double-edge sword.
(I am not implying that Aylmer is an evil man, I do not think he is aware of the chaos he
can arouse. In fact, he is merely concerned with progress and saving humans from their
own mortality and "humanness".)
There is one imparticular line from the story that I sound most engaging: Hawthorne's
description "The scenery and the figures of actual life were perfectly represented, but
with that bewitching, yet indescribably difference, which always makes a picture, an
image, or a shadow, so much more attractive than the original." When I read this I
stopped mid-story. This is a common theme throughout Romantic poetry I have encountered.
Immediately it reminded me of Shelly's "To A Sky-Lark" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by
Keats. Both of these poems describe unattainable perfection. The skylark's song is
beautiful, but it flies so high we are unable to see the creature and hense, the song
seems to come from the heavens. In "Ode...", Keats spends much time describing the beauty
of the grecian scene on the vase but then refutes it with "cold pastoral". Those two
words could describe this short story. From the outside, Aylmer thinks that everything on
Georgiana would be perfect if she didn't have the birthmark. What he doesn't realize is
perfection is unattainable, except in our minds.
The Maypole of Merrymount describes a maypole, and it's significance in American history.
Hawthorne creates a scene of revelry (almost a Mardi Gras scene) and has it destroyed by
the Puritans. This story reminds me of the Christian Creation Story with the maypole
being the Garden of Eden and the Puritans being allegorical figures of Satan. Hawthorne
seems to blame the demise of the American freespirit on the Puritans. I don't have much
to comment on this story; it is really a cut and dry case. I think Hawthorne is harsh on
the Puritans. I read somewhere that the view we have of the Puritans today is somewhat
misleading. They did not always wear black and never laughed. Maybe to some, they did
cause the utopic garden of America to be shattered.
After reading The Maypole of Merry Mount and Young Goodman Brown it is quite obvious the
contempt Hawthorne holds for the Puritans. In Young Goodman Brown, Brown is led on a path
where he encounters the devil and realizes that everyone surrounding him in his Puritan
neighborhood is evil at heart. He learns his father and grandfather before him did the
devil's work, as well as the women he holds with utmost admiration. Brown turns from
"Faith" (his wife in one sense and his actual faith in another) when he learns that
everything he believed in is a sham.
I feel as though I cannot write about this story without mentioning the fact that it is a
story about good and evil where evil prevails. Goodman Brown is a weak man presumably
coming from weak stock. I suppose according to Hawthorne it is the existence of Puritan
blood in his veins, which makes him a cowardly man. He is a conformist, instead of
standing against the wrongs of his community he embraces the same fate as everyone else.
The theme of the story carries through to today's society. Oftentimes people will join
groups or subscribe to ideologies they otherwise would not due to that fact that so many
of their kin and respected leaders do. The story made me think of Thoreau. In Civil
Disobedience, Thoreau actions toward the Mexican War are the antitheses of those that
would have been done by Young Goodman Brown.