Summary: The Custom-House: Introductory. This introduction provides a frame for the main narrative of The Scarlet Letter. The nameless narrator, who shares quite a few traits with the book’s author, takes a post as the “chief executive officer,” or surveyor, of the Salem Custom House. (“Customs” are the taxes paid on foreign imports into a country; a “customhouse” is the building where these taxes are paid.) Custom-house Seizures of Books and Papers. Among the topics discussed in the report of the Congressional Committee on Affairs at the Custom-house in this City, the Seizure Bureau occupied a They will teach you how Essay On The Custom House to write precisely. We are offering quick essay tutoring services round the clock. Only premium essay tutoring can help you in attaining desired results. Instead of wasting time on amateur tutors, hire experienced essay tutors for Essay On The Custom House proper guidance/10()
The Scarlet Letter The Custom House Summary and Analysis | GradeSaver
The Custom House is largely an autobiographical sketch describing Hawthorne's life as an administrator of the Salem Custom House. It was written to enlarge the tale of The Scarlet Lettersince Hawthorne deemed the story too short to print by itself. It also serves as an excellent essay on society during Hawthorne's times, and it allows Hawthorne to add an imaginative literary device, the romantic pretense of having discovered the manuscript of The Scarlet Letter in the Custom House.
Hawthorne as narrator was granted the position of chief executive officer of the Custom House through the president's commission. His analysis of the place is harsh and critical. He describes his staff as a bunch of tottering old men who rarely rise out of their chairs and who spend each day sleeping or talking softly to one another.
Hawthorne tells the reader that he could not bring himself to fire any of them, so after he assumed leadership, things stayed the same.
Salem is a port city that failed to mature into a major harbor. The streets and buildings are dilapidated, the townspeople are very sober and old, and grass grows between the cobblestones. The Custom House serves the small ship traffic going through the port, but it is usually a quiet place requiring only minimal work.
The connection between Salem and the Puritans is made early on. Hawthorne's family originally settled in Salem, and he is a direct descendent of several notable ancestors, essay on the custom house. He describes his ancestors as severe Puritans decked out in black robes, laying harsh judgment upon people who strayed from their faith.
When discussing his ancestors, Hawthorne is both reverent and mocking, jokingly wondering how an idler such as himself could have born from such noble lineage. Much of the story then deals with long descriptions of the various men essay on the custom house whom he worked in the Custom House. General Millerthe Essay on the custom house, is the oldest inhabitant, a man who maintained a stellar career in the military but who has chosen to work in the Custom House for the remainder of his years.
As for the Inspectorhis job was created by the man's father decades earlier, and he has held the position ever since. The Inspector is the most light-hearted of the essay on the custom house, constantly laughing and talking in spite of his age.
The upstairs of the Custom House was designed to accommodate a large movement of goods through the port, and it is in ill repair since it soon became extraneous, essay on the custom house.
Hawthorne says that the large upstairs hall was used to store documents, and it is here that he has found an unusual package. The package contains some fabric with a faded letter A imprinted on the cloth, with some papers describing the entire story behind the letter.
This is the story that Hawthorne claims is the basis for The Scarlet Letter. Three years after taking his job as Surveyor, essay on the custom house, General Taylor was elected President of the United States, and Hawthorne received notice of his termination.
Hawthorne remarks that he is lucky to have been let go, since it allowed him the time to write out the entire story of The Scarlet Letter. that the great-grandchildren of the present race may sometimes think kindly of the scribbler of bygone days.
It resembles more a tract or a personal essay than an introduction to a piece of fiction, but it offers plenty of insights that will support the rest of The Scarlet Letter. For one thing, we gain a sense of why the narrator feels the need to tell the story. As a man of youth and vigor, he feels somewhat at odds with the Puritan nature of his society.
He himself seems to feel a deep resentment for the strict fidelity to rules and values that would deem his whole personality, essay on the custom house, and his ambition to write, as frivolous or even sinful, essay on the custom house. It was not merely during the three hours and a half which Uncle Sam claimed as his share of my daily life, that this wretched numbness held possession of me. It goes beyond not having time to write.
The narrator is suggesting that the story goes against the social mores that preserve order among the people. Having to go his own way as a writer, but stuck in his desk job, the narrator worries about losing his muse, worrying that he has "ceased to be a writer of tolerably poor tales and essays, and had become a tolerably good Surveyor of the Customs.
The act of writing the novel, then, is itself an act of resistance against essay on the custom house increasing solipsism of his own nature, as well as against a society that would banish the artist as decadent or unproductive in a commercialized society.
The narrator notes that upon losing his job as the Customs purveyor, his soul finally broke free, allowing him to write essay on the custom house story of The Scarlet Letter and fulfill his true calling, essay on the custom house.
Indeed, he cannot even remember his days of being at The Custom House, essay on the custom house, despite it being not too long ago.
It is as if once he finally began doing what he was meant to do, his mind erased all the time he wasted, all the resentment that he associated with "Uncle Sam," who sucked away his passion and imagination. Still, he laments that in this community, he will never be afforded the respect he thinks he deserves as a writer and essay on the custom house never be welcomed genially. Instead, essay on the custom house, he is a citizen of "somewhere else," figuring that his "good townspeople will not much regret" him.
Certainly a reader requires some adjustment to Hawthorne's highbrow language in this chapter. It is remarkably ornate, laden with adjectives and adverbs, and with rich vocabulary. More stifling at times, however, is the interiority of the prose. That is, Hawthorne is more concerned with feelings, essay on the custom house, thoughts, and emotions than with the unfolding of a real-time story, reflecting a romantic turn after the classical prose of the late eighteenth century.
Indeed, the sin of adultery has long since been committed by the time we arrive at the first page of the narrative proper. A number of critics argue that essay on the custom house style presents one of the first examples of distinctly American writing, with its own history and stories and language.
In an almost fantastical moment, the narrator puts the letter to his breast, prompting an explosion of heat and feeling. In this single recollection, the narrator establishes why the story must be told and why we the reader want to hear it: there is an innate power in that scarlet letter which must be unlocked, which demands to be heard.
The story, the letter—neither is dead. This device has been used commonly in literature—that is, when someone discovers an ancient artifact, it retains some of its power, and the finder has the responsibility to put it to rest. In this case the narrator, despite his torpid slumber of insipid duty to essay on the custom house and country, has been awakened to his mission, and he accepts it, revealing to us the mystery of the letter, no matter the consequences for him and his community.
The Question and Answer section for The Scarlet Letter is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. how do you evaluate Chillingworth's and Dimmesdale's character in the scarlet letter? Chillingworth arrives in Boston on the day that Hester is publicly shamed and forced to wear the scarlet letter. He vows revenge on the father of Pearl, and he soon moves in with Arthur Dimmesdale, who Chillingworth knows has committed adultery Two things a new settlement must have are?
Analyse 'The Scarlet letter' as a psychological novel? This is a really interesting question. It pretty much entails a Essay on the custom house interpretation of A Scarlet Letter. ID is our primal drives. I suppose Hester and Rev.
Dimmesdale had primal drives which resulted in Pearl. There was allot of sexual The Scarlet Letter study guide contains a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
The Scarlet Letter essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Remember me. Forgot your password? Buy Study Guide. A prison and a cemetery. Study Guide for The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter study guide contains a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.
About The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter Summary Character List Glossary Themes Read the Study Guide for The Scarlet Letter….
Essays for The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter essays are academic essays for citation, essay on the custom house. The Little Human A Incarnate Perception Blanketed by Passion Original Sin Hawthorne's "Witch-Baby" in The Scarlet Letter Hester's Role as Both the Sinner and Saint View our essays for The Scarlet Letter…. Lesson Plan for The Scarlet Letter About the Author Study Objectives Common Core Standards Introduction to The Scarlet Letter Relationship to Other Books Bringing in Technology Notes to the Teacher Related Links The Scarlet Letter Bibliography View the lesson plan for The Scarlet Letter….
E-Text of The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter e-text contains the full text of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. THE CUSTOM-HOUSE CHAPTER I. THE PRISON-DOOR CHAPTER II. THE MARKET-PLACE CHAPTER III. THE INTERVIEW Read the E-Text for The Scarlet Letter….
Wikipedia Entries for The Scarlet Letter Introduction Plot Major theme Publication history Critical response View Wikipedia Entries for The Scarlet Letter….
The Custom House
, time: 4:26Introduction: “The Custom-House” | The Scarlet Letter | Nathaniel Hawthorne | Lit2Go ETC
The Custom-House. The Custom House is largely an autobiographical sketch describing Hawthorne's life as an administrator of the Salem Custom House. It was written to enlarge the tale of The Scarlet Letter, since Hawthorne deemed the story too short to print by itself. It also serves as an excellent essay on society during Hawthorne's times, and it allows Hawthorne to add an imaginative literary device, If you are Essay On The Custom House looking for someone to write an essay for you, essay writers at blogger.com will help with Essay On The Custom House all your paper writing needs. Our native essay writers are available 24/7 to make sure you get a high-quality paper within your deadline/10() The first of his ancestors, William Hathorne, is described in Hawthorne's "The Custom House" as arriving with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in "with his Bible and his sword" (26). A further connection can also be seen in his more notable ancestor John Hathorne, who exemplified the level of zealousness in Puritanism with his role as
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