Metaphor Of Natural Image: Re-examination Of Hawthorne's Attitudes Toward Sins Through Natural Image

As one of the most important men of letters during the American Renaissance (1930～1960) in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne had been writing for over forty years, leaving five noveis and hundreds of short stories to the world and was therefore honored as one of the greatest novelists of the United States. What made Hawthorne stand out among his contemporary writers was his perseverance at presenting sins in his works. Hawthorne devoted his whole life to observing and pondering over sins committed by human beings, and it has been widely acknowledged that many of his stories were marked by a surge of black charm.The history of Hawthorne's studies is profound and its fruits, multifaceted. One of the focuses has fallen into exactly what helped the author earn his reputation, i.e. his vivid illustration of human's sins, the revelation of conflicts between good and evil, and above all his long pursuit of an ideal path towards redemption. To get a panoramic view on how Hawthorne managed to present various sins humankind has committed, however, is not an easy task since he is such a prolific writer, and nor will it make no effort to figure it out how this great man's attitudes toward sins varied during his different writing phrases.Besides his passionate concerns for sins and redemption, Hawthorne is also noted for filling his works with sophisticated images of nature (especially the image of forest) as well as the metaphorical meanings behind these images throughout most of his novels and short stories. This, on considering his lifetime devotion to presenting sins, may not be a coincidence but strongly indicate a certain connection with the author's sense of sin and evil.Based on some of the constructive research conducted by the other scholars, this thesis aims to find out the connection mentioned above through an analysis on how Nathaniel Hawthorne dwelled on sins in his works and whether his attitudes altered during different writing phrases by giving a close look at the image of nature (featured by forest) in his writing. It is expected that Hawthorne's long-lasting interest in nature, consciously or unconsciously, could serve as a window to help us know more aboutthe dynamic development of his thinking on human nature, sins as well asredemption.