초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This study aims to define Nathaniel Hawthorne’s view of Man and Nature in his literary works. Hawthorne having Puritan ancestors is evidently the heir of the Puritan tradition, but he has very critical consciousness against their dogmatic behavior patterns doing much damage to human nature. Like his Puritan ancestors, he has the Calvinistic belief that the Original Sin, committed by Adam and Eve, has resulted in everyone’s innate sinfulness. However, he seeks to establish this view as the basis for a compassionate view of the plights caused by human shared imperfections. In that sense, it may be safely assumed that he is the unwilling heir of the Puritan tradition. Hawthorne’s subject of criticism can be interpreted as all the human negative qualities violating the sanctity of human heart and denying the common heart of humanity rather than the Puritans or the transcendental extremists themselves. It must be noticed that Hawthorne employs the natural objects as symbols to effectively convey his central ideas. His literary strategy lies in evoking poetical associations in New England landscape. As stated in “The Custom-House” of The Scarlet Letter, the writer who is very sensitive to the spirituality of place intends to grasp human mental state projected into the natural landscape. In his fiction, it is interesting that most natural objects symbolically reflect human psyche. In The Scarlet Letter, the prison stands for sin and the cemetery for death, which is closely related to the Puritan dogmatism. On the contrary, the rosebush and the forest represents natural beauty and wildness, which parallels Hester Prynne’s beauty and her mental state unrestrained by Puritan law. Such instances can also be found in his other novels and short stories. Hawthorne’s themes center upon the predicament of individuals alienated from society, the fellowship essential to human survival, and the exploration of the possibility of achieving a regenerated community. He manages to adopt various natural objects as symbols of human psyche, to aesthetically present such themes.
