House Of The Seven Gables :: essays research papers fc

The House of the Seven GablesThe sympathy or magnetism among human beingnesss is more acute and universalthan we think it exists, indeed, among different classes of organized life, and vibratesfrom one to another (Hawthorne 178). Loosely based on the events of Hawthornes ownlife, The House of the Seven Gables attempts to show the pang of descendants forcedto repent for the sins of their father, while they are unknowingly renewing the curse bynurturing the ancestral greed that has passed through the generations (O Connor 6) . Thus the conglomerate themes of the original reflect the central idea of continued sin through thegreed and guilt of a declining family.Each generation struggles to escape the sins of the past, only to be thrustforcefully back to face the offenses of their forefathers. The House of the Seven Gablesis a tale of loneliness and greed caused by the sin of preceding generations. The openingof the novel is set in puritan times during the Salem witch hunts. The vi llainous ColonelPyncheon wrongly accused the innocent Matthew Maule of witchcraft so that the Mauleland would fall into the Pyncheon familys hands. Upon his death, Maule addressedColonel Pyncheon from the scaffold, and uttered a prophecy...God will give him bloodto drink (Hawthorne 4-5) . The physical wrongdoing of Colonel Pyncheon againstMatthew Maule was avenged at the formers death, with the curse being fulfilled. However, the essence of the crime lived on through the generations. By chapter two, the focus of the novel has shifted to the modern generations ofthe Pyncheon family. The family has severely declined since the Colonels time, yet thecurse of greed is as impregnable as ever. The remains of the family consist of a decrepitspinster named Hepzibah, now the caretaker of the house of the seven gables her insanebrother Clifford, who was just recently released from prison their mephistophelian cousin JudgeJaffrey, a man fixated upon his own greed and their distant cousin Phoeb e, the sunnycountry girl that will be their redemption. Also, the last live descendant of theMaule lineage, the handsome Holgrave Maule, resides at the house. In a compilation by F.O. Matthiessen, it is stated that the main theme was not theoriginal curse on the house, save the curse that the Pyncheons have continued to bringupon themselves. It is not Maules death which needs avenging, but the anguish causedby the Pyncheon familys greed. Lust for wealth has held the Pyncheon in its inflexible