“Ethan Brand”
In the short story, “Ethan Brand,” Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about the returning of a man who leaves his village and occupation to seek information. Twenty years prior to the beginning of this story, the man, named Ethan Brand, goes out in search of the Unpardonable Sin. ... Bartram, the current lime-burner, now lives and works at the very kiln that Ethan Brand deserted twenty years previous. From the moment Bartram and his little son, Joe first hear Ethan, they feel uncomfortable and afraid. As the boy sets out to get others from the village, Bartram asks Ethan where the unpardonable sin is and Ethan points to his own heart. The boy returns with three villagers who had been in the village tavern: a lawyer, doctor and stage-agent who all recognize Ethan. They encourage Ethan to “partake of the contents’ of a certain black bottle.” When Ethan tells them to leave him alone, they accuse him of being unfriendly to his best friends and question whether he has really found the unpardonable sin. After the three men leave, Bartram and his son go to the hut to sleep leaving Ethan alone watching the kiln. During the night, Ethan throws himself into the kiln and melts away in the hot flames. Bartrum and his son find Ethan’s skeleton in the kiln the next day with a piece of marble inside his rib cage, which Bartrum recognized as Ethan’s heart.
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