Custom House First question

The author’s primary purpose for the custom house introduction is to establish pathos between himself, his hometown of Salem, and the custom house. The author does this by giving vivid descriptions of the scenery, the people, and the atmosphere of Salem and the custom house to allow the reader a chance to visualize what the he and the natives had lived through and seen when growing up in his hometown while connecting himself emotionally with his observations.
Throughout the first few pages of the custom house introduction, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, brings imagery of the infamous Puritan town of Salem through the details of scenery to create the feeling of an emotional attachment between himself and his native city. Sentence wording of the before and after effect of Salem give off the impression that the author has left his hometown before, but has come back to relish in the memories to have a feeling of what his childhood and early adult hood was like before the death of his hometown. An example would be when Nathaniel Hawthorne compared and contrasted Salem from when it was a bustling metropolis to when it was-the present day Salem of Nathaniel’s era- a “ghost town” of dusty and old houses that held no present-day life, besides the miscellaneous pieces left by travelers. With this specific imagery, the author establishes an emotional connection between himself and Salem by conveying to the reader that the present day of Salem isn’t the town he was born and raised in when he was a child because of the lack of evident life due to the expansion of the financial gain the occupants of old Salem had benefited from by moving to other towns and states for better profit in their market. This displays the effect of change for Nathaniel and how he handles the drastic change from seeing his native city dwindle from a populated area to a desolated forgotten town; thus giving the impression to the reader that the author has a sympathetic- if not highly emotional- spot for old Salem because it was his place of nurture; seeing that kind of change having an emotional effect because it was where he and his family originated from. Nathaniel Hawthorne also shows that the effects of Salem’s change brings back his memories of the custom house he used to work in- the, supposedly, busiest house in Salem where everything was seen and done. This is established by the constant description and feelings of the occupants and current day condition of the home he worked in. The author never fails to describe the residents he worked with while giving the reader a mental visual of what they might have looked like; leaving room to explain his connections to the workers, their daily actions, past-times, and emotions he has towards them to tie them altogether with the emotional attachment he has with the custom house; their part in whatever duties in making the custom house as he knows it a significant piece to why he remembers it so. The regular description of the home it once was- it having granite steps, regular cleaning, and lively looking atmosphere- gives the reader a chance to mentally visualize the custom house before Nathaniel had come back to reminisce on its behalf. This symbolic remembrance tells the reader that Hawthorne became emotionally attached to the custom house because of his time he spent there and the sight of seeing it as a modern day ruin being almost, if not completely, tragic because of what it used to be years before. It is as if Nathaniel Hawthorne came to Salem just to ponder on the custom house while gazing upon the ruins of the best years of his life. He made his thoughts clear about the people he met and how they played a dramatic role in his life while displaying how those same people tied into the making of the custom house that ensured him great years of long-lasting happiness and enjoyment.
The change the author admits to making is that, he did not want the story to be a mess of facts that had no opinion or creativity embedded within. Nathaniel Hawthorne wanted the scarlet letter to be a fictional story based of a real factual event that took place in anceint Salem during his time. The author also wanted to entertain his reader by not boring them with the facts and evidence of the true event in an effot to keep their attention and interest. The diary- written documents found- is the written happenings of a woman that is based off his character ,Hester Pryne , and Nathaniel Hawthorne took that event and added his own details and personality to the piece to make it seem interesting and not seem like a rewritten text of facts.
This change impacts the story in a good yet bad way due to the flowering of true events that happened for the sake of entertainment. While the author keeps the main facts and details the same as an effort to keep his story true and factual, he adds his own details and “flavor” in order to attract more readers to keep their interest and following. This alters the “true” events that happened during the time of the crisis while it gives more praise to Hawthorne’s book as a compelling piece about adultery and sin. This impact may offend some- since Hawthorne is living in the time period his story takes place in- if not all who had lived through or experienced such a tragedy while it may entertain others as something no less than a taboo desire. Topics Hawthorne addresses are “sin” in his modern day era and by him addressing such conflicting topics, it brings controversy while also giving his book glory and interest.