Innocence Lost by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay -- Nathaniel Hawthorne Inn

Innocence Lost by Nathaniel Hawthorne My Kinsman, Major Molineux and Young Goodman Brown point Nathaniel Hawthornes belief in the universality of sin. These works provide numerous perspectives into the nature of the kind-hearted condition and the individuals role within it. Hawthorne fictionalizes a world where communion with man is essential for spiritual satisfaction. The main characters of these stories face moral dilemmas through their pursuit of human communion. Whether the problems are moral, psychological, or both, Hawthorne insists that the individual moldiness come to affirm a tie with the procession of life, must come to achieve some sense of brotherhood of man. In order to commune with mankind, unrivaled has to give up a secure, ordered and innocent world. The individual becomes liable to a fearsome array of complex emotions. One feels alienated by a community that forces himself to decadency while his isolation creates an ambiguity. The newly initiated into the r ites of man appears no more moral than those who he disdains. Hawthorne presents a world where communion with mankind leads to corruption while isolation from humans is an unpardonable sin. Nathaniel Hawthorne presents an interesting predicament in mans search for communion with his fellow man. Coming of age in Hawthornes time requires an certification of sin, communion with sinners and celebration of life through sin. Hawthorne creates this environment by grounding the consequences on earth. To feel the universal throb of brotherhood, one must recognize sin, figure in and celebrate it. Hawthorne affirms, recognizes and revels in the depravity of the human condition. The first fatal step of understanding human nature is a self-conscious probing that ends in confusion. The story of My Kinsmen, Major Molineux presents the youthful character of Robin on his way from the country to the town of Boston. He wishes to succeed within the community, and figures that it will not be diff icult because of his connection through Major Molineux, a prominent figure of the community. Hawthorne erodes innocence slowly through the harsh experience of urban realities. Robins initial contact with the residents of this community jostles his confidence. He does not yet understand the harshness of adults and happily continues on his way. But Hawthorne underscores the cost of his yearning. Robin has t... ... later. Camus insists Sisyphus is happy or there is no joy or redemption for life on earth. The profundity of Hawthorne is apparent in his notions of the human condition. Nathaniel Hawthorne concludes his discovery of sin in the human condition at the point of universal appeal. The key for Hawthornes understanding of the human condition is the recognition of the universality of sin. So take this work for its imperfections, kind of of tormenting these ideas with the harsh meter stick of faithless standards. Nathaniel Hawthorne believes that understanding man is understanding its moral condition of imperfection. Works CitedHawthorne, Nathaniel. Ethan Brand. Nathaniel Hawthornes Tales. Ed. James McIntosh. Norton Critical Edition. impudent York Norton, 1987. 231-244.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. My Kinsman, Major Molineux. Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1173-1186.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 1994. 1198-1207.Stubbs, John C. The Pursuit of Form a study of Hawthorne and the romance. Chicago University of Illinois Press, 1970.