Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. His family linage was that of strong Puritan descent, with both his mother and father, Elizabeth and Nathaniel Sr. having been reared by Puritan families. Hawthorne's ancestors include Major William Hathorne who was one of the first Puritan settlers in America, and Joe Hathorne who was a head judge in the Salem witch trials. Nathaniel was four when his father died and as a result he lived a solitary life with his mother, who became extremely withdrawn and guilt stricken. While Hawthorne (who adopted this spelling of the name) lived a very sedentary lifestyle in this environment, he was finally exposed to a "normal" child's life. Nathaniel was so content with this newfound life that when the subject of continued education arose he stated "Oh! N

Hillis's review of The Scarlet Letter noted it as a psychological, moral, and religious commentary. He included this in his essay "Conscience and Retributive Working of Justice. A study of the Necessity and Nobility of Repentance, and the Confession of Sin." The Scarlet Letter, being Nathaniel's best work, has a firm standing in the cannon of great American literature (www.uwm.edu).

In 1836, Goodrich landed Hawthorne a job as editor of The American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge (Kunitz 1600- 1900, 347). He received payment of twenty dollars after four months of proofreading and "professional haggling". Hawthorne found life as a writer trying, especially the financial aspects. This forced him to accept a position as a measurer at the Boston Custom-House, which kept him busy for about two years. He then joined the Transcendentalists settlement of Brook Farm in 1841, which he left rather quickly, regretful of having spent so many days in a place in which he was so unhappy. It was within this same five-year period, however, that Hawthorne slowly began to gain recognition of his writings, hastened by a favorable review by his college friend Longfellow, of Nathaniel's newly published book, Twice Told Tales (Drable, 442).

o... I was not born to vegetate forever... to live and die as calm and tranquil as a puddle of water." Young Nathaniel grew fond of books and literature, especially the acclaimed Pilgrims Progress despite his lack of interest in school (Kunitz 1600- 1900, 347).

writing off and on, he accepted a job as surveyor of the Port of Salem in 1846. He lost this job in 1849, but published The Scarlet Letter in 1850, which forever changed his standing as a writer (www.umn.edu).

Nathaniel served as the American consulate at Liverpool, England from 1853 to 1857. After quitti

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