An Analysis of an
Excerpt from Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s The House
of the Seven Gables
“He's a terrific snob and he won't hardly even talk to you unless you're a big
shot or a celebrity or something, but he can really play the piano. He's so
good, he's almost corny, in fact. I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but
I mean it. I certainly like to hear him play, but sometimes you feel like
turning the goddam piano over. I think it's because sometimes when he plays,
he sounds like the kind of guy that won't talk to you unless you're a big shot.”
–Holden Caulfield
What or Theme Statement
• The narrator seeks to prove that the
highest personal achievement is selfknowledge, but that this only comes from
those who are truly honest and
acknowledge their flaws. Judge Pyncheon
is trying to be the perfect archetype of
humanity but fails because of a lack of
honesty and acknowledgement of his
flaws.
How (Literary Elements)
•Juxtaposition
•Asyndeton
•Imagery
•Irony
•Rhetorical Questions
•Satire
The first part of the elongated sentence lists an excessive
amount of Judge Pyncheon’s good deeds—alluding to different
standards of the archetype of humanity.
• “The purity of his judicial character…” (Line 6-7)
• “…his unimpeachable integrity as treasurer’s of a Widow’s and
Orphan’s fund…” (Line 12-13)
• “…the cleanliness of his moral department…” (Line 17)
Second part of elongated sentence starts mentioning darker
traits (imagery) that contradict the archetype he’s trying to
personify, and yet the narrator continues as if nothing is wrong.
• “…the severity with which he had frowned upon, and finally
cast off, an expensive and dissipated son, delaying forgiveness
until within the final quarter of an hour of the young man’s
life…” (Line 18-21)
• “…his efforts in furtherance of the temperance-cause; his
confining himself, since the last attack of gout, to five diurnal
glasses of old Sherry wine…” (Line 22-25)
• “…the snowy whiteness of his linen, the polish of his boots,
the handsomeness of his gold-headed cane…” (Line 25-27)
The use of syntax in the mid section of the excerpt
enhances the satirical tone with which the narrator is
speaking.
• “…the smile of broad benevolence wherewith he made it a
point to gladden the whole world;—what room could possibly
be found for darker traits, in a portrait made up of lineaments
like these!” (Line 33-36)
• “Then, might not he claim to be its result and sum, and say to
himself and the community—”Behold Judge Pyncheon,
there”?” (Line 39-41)
Like syntax, Hawthorne employs the use of
rhetorical questions to add to the satirical
tone.
• “What room could possibly be found for darker traits, in a
portrait made up of lineaments like these!” (33-36)
• “Then, might not he claim to be its result and sum, and say to
himself and the community—”Behold Judge Pyncheon,
there”?” (Line 39-41)
• “…would you characterize the Judge by that one necessary
deed, and that half forgotten act, and let it overshadow the
fair aspect of a lifetime!” (Line 47-50)
• “What is there so ponderous in evil, that a thumb’s bigness of
it should outweigh the mass of things not evil, which were
heaped into the other scale!” (Line 50-52)
The narrator is juxtaposing this “one wrong act” with the rest
of the Judge’s life, but ironically, through repetition of “one,” this
one wrong act speaks more to his character than all the good
deeds he’s done.
• “…some one wrong act…” (Line 43-44)
• “…one questionable deed…” (Line 45-46)
• “…among a thousand praiseworthy…” (Line 46)
• “…one necessary deed…” (Line 48)
• “…that half-forgotten act…” (Line 48-49)
The last few sentences show the extreme change of
opinion of the narrator, showing that they now
realize what kind of a man the Judge is.
• “…a personage of his eminent respectability.” (Line 3-4)
• “…purity of his judicial character…” (Line 6-7)
•Versus
• “A hard, cold man…” (Line 54-55)
• “…can scarcely arrive at true self knowledge, except through
loss of property and reputation.” (Line 58-59)
The final line is the most important syntactical
choice that Hawthorne makes because
technically he uses a semicolon incorrectly.
•“Sickness will not always
help him to it; not always
the death-hour.”
How we relate!
• Marisa has gout
• High school students often inhabit personas that
they want to be perceived and sometimes deny
their true self.
• Michael wanted to play baseball, but decided he
didn’t want to be like the kids who played
baseball.
• Michael hates you
•