House of the Seven Gables

than we think; it exists, indeed, among different classes of organized life, and vibrates

from one to another” (Hawthorne 178). Loosely based on the events of Hawthorne’s own

life, The House of the Seven Gables attempts to show the suffering of descendants forced

to repent for the sins of their “father”, while they are unknowingly renewing the curse by

nurturing the ancestral greed that has passed through the generations (O’ Connor 6) .

Thus the various themes of the novel reflect the central idea of continued sin through the

greed and guilt of a declining family.

Each generation struggles to escape the sins of the past, only to be thrust

forcefully back to face the offenses of their forefathers. The House of the Seven Gables

is a tale of loneliness and greed caused by the sin of preceding generations. The opening

of the novel is set in puritan times during the Salem witch hunts. The villainous Colonel

Pyncheon wrongly accused the innocent Matthew Maule of witchcraft so that the Maule

land would fall into the Pyncheon family’s hands. Upon his death, Maule “addressed

[Colonel Pyncheon] from the scaffold,

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hepzibah Clifford, Clifford Pyncheon, Jaffrey Hepzibah, Seven Gables, Interbreeding Colonels, Hawthornes Crews, Holgrave Jaffrey, Matthew Maule, FO Matthiessen, Colonel Pyncheon, seven gables, house seven gables, house seven, hepzibah clifford, colonel pyncheon, jaffrey pyncheon, matthew maule, pyncheon familys, house hearts, life house, pyncheon territory, marriage phoebe holgrave, descendant maule lineage, hepzibah clifford pyncheon,
Approximate Word count = 2866
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)