Ap_Promt_the_House_of_the_Seven_Gables

The Novel The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The author creates a clear cut image of the character Judge Pyncheon for the reader to dissect. He values the ideal image of a judicial character and considers the public perception of him a key factor. The judge attempts to create a positive image for himself with the community by being active and boasting about his public participation, and he succeeds, as such his reputation is increased dramatically. However the narrator is not content with allowing Judge Pyncheon’s other flaws to go unnoticed. He reveals that most of the judge’s actions are rooted in self-centeredness and pettiness. Through the use of satirical tone, organization, and selective detail the author reveals the judge to be much less than his words build him up to be. The narrator first starts out by listing the judge’s alleged accomplishments and achievements each time adding just a touch of satire. The list consists of a number of ideas separated by semi-colons. This gives each item its own focus. It is first introduced as “splendid rubbish” that would “cover up…a more active and subtle conscience than the judge was ever troubled with”, implying a lack of sincerity in these actions. The narrator starts the list with the judge’s more admirable qualities and achievements, such as his “unimpeachable integrity as treasurer…” and the “cleanliness of his moral deportment”. However, he transitions into more superfluous achievements such as the judge’s “confining himself…to five glasses of old Sherry wine” and continues to mock the judge. The list continues as do the satirical comments, we are next introduced to details about Judge Pyncheon’s wardrobe, which says he is not a man of selflessness but rather a man of greed. The narrator adds that a man cannot truly look at himself without deception until he loses his property. The narrator also makes it clear that the Judge knows perfectly well that his contributions to society build his reputation, which contradicts what he previously stated. One cannot be “pure” and still be proud of one’s deeds. However, the narrator emphasizes that this opinion stems not from himself but rather from the public eye that the Judge is present in. The narrator discloses his opinions on the public’s unawareness, stating, “what room could possibly be found for darker traits, in a portrait made up of lineaments like these!” Although the narrator expresses a disturbing occurrence where Pyncheon “cast off” his only son with “severity” and would not forgive him until he was on his deathbed, the people still follow the judge and ignore his faults, they are ignorant to the judge’s faults and focus on his supposed “good” deeds. After all, the narrator says, “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 side.” He sarcastically states that this “half-forgotten act” should not overshadow the “fair aspect of a lifetime”. Though the public may find Judge Pyncheon an honest and openhanded man, the narrator has convinced his reader otherwise. Judge Pyncheon is a man with no morals and his main concern is self preservation. Yet he fails to see this because he causes himself to believe that is not the case through overly concerning himself with his image and the public’s opinions of him.. Never will he be able to understand himself and his true persona because to often is he concerned with the surface level rather than the inner level. It is also made clear by the narrator that even in his death or in sickness he will never understand the flaws of his character. The judge is a contrast in and of himself, he values the opinion other have of him, yet had no true concern for others.