Hawthorne was not an outstanding student, and graduated only in the middle of his class in 1825. Nathaniel had many famous classmates, including, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the (future US President) Franklin Pierce. After graduation, Nathaniel returned to his mother's house on Charter Street in Salem, Massachusetts, and began to write. Nathaniel sequestered himself in her house for the next twelve years. Critics were fascinated with this apparent isolation, and speculated at length of his activities during this time. However, history shows that this "isolation" period was not as reclusive as Hawthorne would have most believe. He socialized quite often in Salem, and used the free passage that was available on his uncle's stagecoach line to

After the death of Hawthorne's mother in 1849, he was put under more financial pressure and emotional stress. Sophia revealed, unbeknownst to Hawthorne, that she had saved money from her allowance for household expenses over the years. With the help of this money, Hawthorne resolved to try once again to earn a living through his writing. For the next eight months, Hawthorne worked day and night to finish, The Scarlet Letter.

Just prior to his marriage to Sophia, he searched for better paying work, and was certain that he could not make a sufficient living off of his literature works. Hawthorne began looking for better paying work. Nathaniel invested a thousand dollars in a place called the Brook Farm Community. The work load here left him no time to write. Hawthorne's lack of sympathy with the Transcendentalist viewpoint supported by the community, and the fact that the farm appeared to be financially unsuccessful, led Hawthorne to try to tell Sophia that he must form other plans for them. He resigned from the community in November, 1841.

Hawthorne was given the opportunity to write for the Democratic Review. This employment gave him renewed hope that he could provide a living for Sophia. Hawthorne and Sophia were married in 1942 and moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where they took up residence in the now famous "Old Manse". Hawthorne made colleagues and neighbors of some of the leading Transcendentalists of the day including, Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller and Alcott. Apparently, Hawthorne's views changed on Transcendentalism since his stay at Brook Farm. His later works show some transcendentalist influence, including a belief in individual choice and consequently an emphasis on symbolism. Life at the "Old Manse" proved productive both artistically and financia

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Approximate Word count = 1195
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)