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Cracking the Code of Hawthorne�s Allegories

According to Harmon and Holman�s A Handbook to Literature, allegory is �a form of extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. . . . Allegory attempts to evoke a dual interest, one in the events, characters, and setting presented, and the other in the ideas they are intended to convey or the significance they bear� (12).� Allegories may be political, social, moral, satiric, or personal in nature, or a combination of these.

�Go to a web slide show on symbolism and allegory.

�M. de l�Aub�pine� has already warned us of his penchant for allegory, so consider the following for each story:

1. What universal symbols does Hawthorne use, and in what way does he transform or subvert them?� Examples might include the following:

• Garden, woods, or other natural spots
• The journey and the traveler
• The wise guide
• The beautiful innocent woman or the wicked temptress
• Water, rivers, and crossing bodies of water
• Vegetation generally: flowers, trees, and other elements of the natural world.Think about the different connotations of different forms of vegetation: roses, lilies, burdocks, trees, daisies, and so on.
•  Animals, especially (for Hawthorne) birds and insects
•  The dream
• Time of day, season, or year; weather (storms, rain, snow)

2.        In what ways does reading any one of these three stories shed light on Hawthorne�s method in the others?

�Rappaccini�s Daughter�

1. In what ways does Hawthorne use such symbolic devices as the shattered fountain and the garden?
2. Why is the Renaissance setting important?

�The Celestial Railroad�

1. This story is an allegory about an allegory. �Judging from the footnotes, in what ways does Hawthorne rewrite and transform Bunyan�s classic?
2. What kind of allegory is this, and what kind of devices (mentioned above) does it use?�
3. What are the subjects of Hawthorne�s satire here, and what real moral points does he attempt to make?
4. Given what you�ve read, how would you characterize his views of transcendentalism? Progress? Mechanization or the machine age? Contemporary society?
5. What allegorical or symbolic figures does the narrator meet?

�My Kinsman, Major Molineux�

1. What kind of allegory is this story?� Why is the setting important?
2. Who is Robin supposed to represent?� Why does he �have the name of being a shrewd youth�?
3. What allegorical or symbolic figures does he meet?� Why do they respond to him so strangely?�
4. What is happening on the night of the story?� Why is the man from the inn covered with red and black paint?
5. Why does Robin join in the laughter?

D. Campbell