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By Nathaniel Hawthorne The House of the Seven Gables is a romantic novel set
in a grand and rustic, old house with seven gables in New England town. The
story opens with its history, beginning in the 1690's, when witch-hunting was
rampant. Afterwards, it revolves around the course of one summer in the 1850's.
At his housewarming party, Colonel Pyncheon, the socially noted owner of the
house was mysteriously found dead in one of the rooms. Although he was highly
esteemed for his wealth and high position, legend has it that he usurped the
land on which his house stood from a poor fellow named Matthew Maule. Maule was
a nobody. Furthermore, he was rumored to be practicing witchcraft. For this, he
was hanged and it was rumored that Pyncheon was responsible for it because he
wanted the land for himself. However, his social prominence and Maule's infamy
allowed him to get away with the crime smoothly. Before Maule died though,
cursed him saying, God will give him blood to drink. For years, the
Pyncheon-Maule dispute carried on. The long line of Pyncheons struggled to keep
the land from their rivals. Though they succeeded in this, their greed became
their own undoing. Alice Pyncheon dies because her father, Gervayse, allowed her
to be hypnotized by a Maule also named Matthew, because he believed him when he
said that he needed Alice's mind to find a the hidden Pyncheon treasure.
Clifford Pyncheon was another victim of the greed of his cousin Judge Jaffrey
Pyncheon.
He framed him and sent him to prison for killing their uncle so that
he could have the Pyncheon fortune to himself. However, after many years, the
once talked-about mansion was eventually forgotten, and the story focuses on the
time when Hepzibah Pyncheon, an old and lonely spinster inhabited it. She was
often feared for the scowl on her face that was actually only the result of a
chronic squint due to her poor eyesight. Proud and without talent for practical
matters, she is a symbol of decaying aristocracy. She grieves for her beloved
brother, Clifford, who was framed and imprisoned. She had a boarder named
Holgrave. He is an attractive and imtellectual young man with modern views and
notions. He preaches about social reform to Hepzibah and Phoebe. When her money
was running out, Hepzibah was forced to open little bakeshop in the front gable
of the house and abandon her illusion of aristocracy. This only adds to her
misery until her young niece, Phoebe, comes from the country to live with her in
the house. Like a ray of sunshine, she lights up the house with her beauty,
simplicity, and free-spiritedness After 30 years in prison, Hepzibah's brother,
Clifford, is released and comes home to the house of seven gables. He has a love
for beauty but the years of seclusion had drawn out the life from him and he
became bitter and spiritless.
Then he develops a special bond with Phoebe.
Despite the complexity of his personality, she understood him. A frequent
visitor was Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon. He resembled his ancestor, the colonel
physically and in his greed and pretentiousness as well. Yet, he pretends to be
good-natured and amiable. He insists that Clifford possessed the knowledge about
a hidden Pyncheon fortune. However, the truth of the matter is that Clifford has
long since forgotten the secret. One day , Judge Jaffrey comes again, looking
for Clifford. He manages to force Hepzibah to let him see her brother and she
goes up to fetch him. He is not in his room and when she comes back to tell the
judge, she finds him dead. And Clifford is standing beside him. Afraid that he
would be accused of murder again, Clifford flees, bringing Hepzibah along. In
their absence, Holgrave and Phoebe fall in love. Eventually, it was discovered
that Jaffrey's death was a result of a stroke, and everything is cleared and
resolved. Clifford and Hepzibah return and Holgrave asks Phoebe to marry him.
She agrees and he discloses that he is a descendant of Matthew Maule. The secret
treasure turned out to be the deed of the territory, which was now useless.
It
was hidden inside a vault concealed by the painting of the colonel which hung on
the wall of the house eversince it was built. Hepzibah, Clifford, Phoebe, and
Holgrave all decide to leave the house and live in the country, where they
inherited an estate from Judge Jaffrey. And that was the end of the Pyncheon -
Maule dispute. The story presents us with several themes. Firstly, that the sins
of the forefathers are passed on to the next generations, and they become
branded for life. Although one cannot undo what have already been done, he can
still strive to break the curse, and free himself from the spiral of sin.
Secondly, man cannot live alone. Isolation can draw out life from a being.
Clifford and Hepzibah who had been living n seclusion for many years had become
bitter and lifeless, but when they were re-united and Phoebe came into their
lives, they became alive again. Third, man should not be divided by social
classes. Hawthorne was obviously against aristocracy for he preaches through
Holgrave that wanting to be above the rest leads to isolation and division.
Lastly, Hawthorne tells us not to be deceived by appearances. Do not judge a
book by its cover, as it is commonly said. The judge's beatific smile is as
misleading as Hepzibah's scowl. The themes of the story present valuable lessons
relevant even today. Hawthorne's style of writing is very relaxed and personal.
By using the present tense, one feels as if he were within the story as it
unfolds before him.
With this, one particularly feels the relevance of the irony
of his novel today. He plays up the novel by embellishing it with mischief like
the disappearing skeleton hand and ghost who plays the harpsichord. He also
filled with symbolism. For instance, the withered with odd markings symbolize
the fading eminence and odd traits of the Pyncheon family. The organ grinder and
the little figures in his box represent the concept of individualism --- each
figure, dancing to the same tune accomplish nothing. The image of the cracked
porcelain vase hurled at the granite column represents Clifford, in all his
frailty versus Jaffrey, to whom he does not stand a chance against. The house
itself symbolizes the human heart. It may be stone-cold but when warmed with
love (Phoebe), it will blossom.
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