Nathaniel Hawthorne & Custom House Sketch (Salem) AUDIO Scarlet Letter

• Report rights infringement
• published: 28 Nov 2015
• views: 144

Before finishing The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne wrote a Custom House sketch to "flesh out" what he considered too thin for a novel and too dark. He also wanted to add realism to an outlandish tale; to ridicule political enemies and justify himself; and to say farewell to Salem. Hawthorne was a Democrat, but Whigs won a recent election. He learned that he was dismissed from a telegram received on June 8, 1849. He fought to keep the job since he had never earned much money as a writer, but he was forced out. He had revenge by writing the Custom House sketch. Several years before working at the Salem Custom House, Hawthorne was Weigher and Gauger in the Boston Custom House. Van Buren was the Democrat in the White House. Hawthorne would have stayed at this Boston job if Van Buren had been re-elected. He had no prospects for a job--he depended on jobs that rewarded political loyalty. Hawthorne lost his Boston position in early 1841 due to a Whig victory. He next tried his luck at Brook Farm. He lost enthusiasm for Brook Farm, but the experience paid off by providing a setting for a future novel. In 1846, Franklin Pierce was not yet president, but Pierce had the political influence to help secure Hawthorne a job at Salem's Custom House. Polk, a Democrat, had won the White House. Hawthorne was poor with a growing family, and his lease was up at the Old Manse. He welcomed this Salem job! Hawthorne's job in Salem was a lucrative "gift" designed to reward political loyalty--the old "spoils" system. The surveyor position paid well, the work light. Hawthorne started The Scarlet Letter during these years. He misled readers by writing that he lacked inspiration. He probably started The House Of Seven Gables, too. When Hawthorne was Surveyor. William Lee had been Inspector for many years--Hawthorne disliked him. Lee, a lover of food, is one victim of Hawthorne's satire. General Miller (famous in the War of 1812) and Miller's son were also at the Salem Custom House. Hawthorne liked General Miller, staying friendly with him and the son after leaving the job. But some mean-spirited sentences in the Custom House sketch are about Miller being decrepit and senile. Old General Miller could no longer carry out duties but was paid nonetheless. Salem's Whigs wanted Hawthorne fired. They also wanted the dismissal of General Miller's son, Ephraim--the new Collector (after General Miller). Miller's son (Ephraim), as Deputy Collector, had performed Collector duties when Hawthorne was Surveyor. Miller's son Ephraim was finally appointed Collector as James Polk left the White House. Ephraim soon lost the job. Hawthorne was viewed as a meddlesome Democrat. Charles. W. Upham was Hawthorne's main political enemy. Hawthorne protested that he was non-political. But Salem's Whigs presented a strong case that Hawthorne was a partisan Democrat. Hawthorne presents himself to readers as free from the taint of politics, but in reality he was politically active. Hawthorne implies that his ability to write was hindered by his Custom House job--a writer is better off without such a job. Sour grapes? But he probably wrote much of The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables during his Custom House years. I suspect that Hawthorne wrote a story about Hester Prynne around 1847-48 (it would later be named The Scarlet Letter). It evolved into his longest story. After losing his job, he showed the manuscript to James T. Fields--in his memoirs, this publisher recalls the day. Fields' enthusiasm for a novel probably inspired Hawthorne to create chapters out of what existed as a story. Hawthorne and Fields were close from around 1849 to the end of the author's life. Hawthorne was loyal to Pierce, a fellow Democrat. Hawthorne's friends was appalled by this since Pierce was friendly to the institution of slavery. Hawthorne's mother died on July 31, 1849. We can't know exactly when Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, but it was being finished or revised around this time. Hawthorne writes about finding an "A" in the Salem Custom House attic, but that is fiction (it was in the attic of the author's brain). The Scarlet Letter sold well when it was first published due to the cruel Custom House sketch. This satire created a sensation in Salem! Hawthorne made good money from The Scarlet Letter in the early months of publication, but then it sold poorly in the dozen years before his death. Hawthorne wrote "Ethan Brand" around the time he started a Hester Prynne story (the winter of 1848–1849), the Hester story growing into a novel. The last story was "Feathertop." The Snow-Image" and "The Great Stone Face" were among the last. Hawthorne viewed the Hester romance as merely the longest story (the "most prolix") to be in a new book of stories. Fields, his editor, saw the potential for a novel, so Hawthorne revised accordingly.