The House of Seven Gables is set during a period of great change in American history. Following closely in line with this concept, Hawthorne makes change a critical part of the novel. Many changes occur in its early portions. However, one in particular seems to have a very deep-rooted impact. I believe this conception of change is particularly well characterized by the following quote, spoken by Hepzibah to Mr. Holgrave:
“You are a man, a young man, and brought up, I suppose, as almost everybody is nowadays, with a view to seeking your fortune. But I was born a lady, and have always lived one; no matter what narrowness of means, always a lady!” (30)
Hepzibah’s words speak volumes for the experiences of “gentlemen” and “ladies” of the time period; they were individuals used to living based mainly upon who they happened to be, what their name was, and what ancestors before them had done. Times were changing, however, and a point was being reached where a name was no longer enough to live comfortably. Furthermore, Hepzibah’s quote shows that she is hardly clueless as to her degenerate state. Despite the illusions of grandeur she may try to maintain with her dress, manners, and even her actions, such as giving away items from her shop when she feels she simply cannot bear to charge someone for so trivial an item, she realizes that she is hardly living the pristine lifestyle experienced by members of the Pyncheon family several generations prior.
This quote exemplifies a landmark representation of a theme of importance for Hawthorne since even in the reading for the first week’s assignment it asserted itself numerous times. For example, when Phoebe proves herself to be a highly skilled worker in numerous regards, Hepzibah to some degree laments the fact that Phoebe must take after her mother rather than her Pyncheon father in order to have such capabilities. Thus, Hepzibah asserts that for an individual to be skilled in some manner of labor they must fall into a category of being below that of herself with no heed paid to standard of living. Such a category emphasizes the importance of personal ability and success rather than tradition and rhetoric. The social class structure Hepzibah so adores, likely due in no small part to the fact that it would benefit her highly, has come to an end.
In my own experience, this change persist to a degree even today. It is certainly true that the concept of “class” is still thrown around, especially given our country’s current political environment and with a Presidential election looming on the horizon. However, the impact of class has been lessened since the time of Hawthorne and the concept of working for the betterment and success of one’s self persists to a strong degree.
Granted, even I have to admit that this argument exists mainly in the realm of what is theoretically possible; it deals with what could happen but not necessarily what does happen. For example, the concept of public education should provide children of all classes with an equal opportunity to learn. Factors such as whether or not schools in different locations are truly equivalent play a large role, though. Likewise, local factors such as money and family issues might prevent youth from a lower class from attending college while a similar youth from a higher class might not suffer from such detriments.
Regardless, the perfection or lack thereof in the system is largely irrelevant to this argument, which is simply leveraging the fact that the same type of change persists to a great degree to this day. The success or failure of it is a matter left to sociologists, of which I most certainly do not profess myself to be one. What I can recognize is that the basis of much of professional America is structured around the concept of the “great American dream”, where an individual, provided that adequate effort is given to the endeavor, can be successful and attain what he or she desires. Ideally, all of this is accomplished without thought to who anyone’s great-great-great-great grandfather was named.
This is not to say that name is a totally meaningless concept to modern American society. Certainly the progeny of a rather prolific, hotel-owning family has attained celebrity status due in large part to name, along with acts of relatively gross stupidity. However, I mean to say that name is not an insurmountable barrier as it once was. It has been my experience that no one tends to believe that they are fated to a particular livelihood due simply to who their parents are. Thus, Hawthorne keys in on a topic of critical importance during his own time which persists to this very day and still provides a driving force for American society.
4 comments:
What I took from your paper is that the changes in the class structure that Hawthorne writes about have provided a base for today’s society. You tie your comments on how Hepzibah clings to her fading upper class status with struggles in modern education. You also draw parallels between how family names were used to define a person and how that practice is still clinging on in modern society.
The first several paragraphs flow very well together but seem to hit a bump when you transition to talking about your own experiences in society today. I also think that your paragraph about the “great American dream” would fit better after you talk about “the betterment and success of one’s self” as that is more connected to the line of thought.
A few things jumped out at me while I was reading. First, when you move on to talking about today’s society, you say that “this change persist to a degree even today.” To me, this means that the change is still going on but in a much diminished fashion. Later on you say that “the same type of change persists to a great degree to this day” and even end saying that it “provides a driving force for American society.” Which one is it? Does the change continue to a small degree or a great degree?
In the beginning of the paragraph with the American dream, you say that the content of the previous paragraph was “largely irrelevant to this [your] argument.” If this is true, why did you include that paragraph?
First off I’d like to introduce myself, albeit late. My name is Mathew Beck and I’m a Junior and a Natural Science major. Secondly I think this is a very good paper and I hope that I can produce one that’s just as good because this class intimidates the crap out of me because I’m not very fond of writing.
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The first thing that could be done to this paper is what we discussed in class; the addition of a thesis statement. That would serve to give the paper a more unified argument because without one, it seems to me that the argument needs to be sort of looked for rather than jumps out at me.
The second thing I noticed is there could be some more elaboration in regard to the sixth paragraph. To me it seems like you have a great couple opening sentences to a paragraph and it just lacks an ending. For instance you mentioned that class has less of an impact today than in Hawthorne’s time but you could have gone on to mention why that is the case and in doing so maybe raising the point about class systems in other less developed nations.
The paragraph about the school system, at least to me, seems kind of overloaded and difficult to read almost like it should be two separate paragraphs. On the other hand it could possibly be considered a tangent, I’m not really sure. I guess its all in how you look at it.
The House of the Seven Gables is set during a period of great change in American history. Following closely in line with this concept, Hawthorne makes change a critical part of the novel. Many changes occur in its early portions. However, one in particular seems to have a very deep-rooted impact. I believe this conception of change is particularly well characterized by the following quote, spoken by Hepzibah to Mr. Holgrave:
“You are a man, a young man, and brought up, I suppose, as almost everybody is nowadays, with a view to seeking your fortune. But I was born a lady, and have always lived one; no matter what narrowness of means, always a lady!” (30)
Hepzibah’s words speak volumes for the experiences of “gentlemen” and “ladies” of the time period; they were individuals used to living based mainly upon who they happened to be, what their name was, and what ancestors before them had done. Times were changing, however, and a point was being reached where a name was no longer enough to live comfortably. Furthermore, Hepzibah’s quote shows that she is hardly clueless as to her degenerate state. Despite the illusions of grandeur she may try to maintain with her dress, manners, and even her actions, such as giving away items from her shop when she feels she simply cannot bear to charge someone for so trivial an item, she realizes that she is hardly living the pristine lifestyle experienced by members of the Pyncheon family several generations prior. In this manner, Hawthorne showcases society's shift from endowing fame and fortune to driven, hard-working individuals rather than guaranteeing it to aristocrats.
The quote itself exemplifies a landmark representation of a theme of importance for Hawthorne since even in the reading for the first week’s assignment it asserted itself numerous times. For example, when Phoebe proves herself to be a highly skilled worker in numerous regards, Hepzibah to some degree laments the fact that Phoebe must take after her mother rather than her Pyncheon father in order to have such capabilities. Thus, Hepzibah asserts that for individuals to be skilled in some manner of labor they must fall into a category of being below that of herself with no heed paid to standard of living. Such a category emphasizes the importance of personal ability and success rather than tradition and rhetoric. The social class structure Hepzibah so adores, likely due in no small part to the fact that it would benefit her highly, has come to an end.
In my own experience, this change persists to a profound degree even today. It is certainly true that the concept of “class” is still commonly used, especially given our country’s current political environment and with a Presidential election looming on the horizon. However, the impact of class has been lessened since the time of Hawthorne and the ideal of working for the betterment and success of one’s self persists even more distinctly. Indeed, class today typically differentiates people from different working groups rather than workers from nobles.
Granted, some may argue that my point exists mainly in the realm of what is theoretically possible; it deals with what could happen but not necessarily what does happen. For example, the standard of public education should provide children of all classes with an equal opportunity to learn. Factors such as whether or not schools in different locations are truly equivalent play a large role, though. Likewise, local factors such as money and familial issues might prevent youth from a lower class from attending college while a similar youth from a higher class might not suffer from such detriments.
Regardless, the perfection or lack thereof in the system is largely irrelevant to this argument, which is simply leveraging the fact that the same type of change persists heavily to this day. The success or failure of it is a matter left to sociologists, of which I most certainly do not profess myself to be one. What I can recognize is that the basis of much of professional America is structured around the concept of working hard and striving toward one's goals. An individual, provided that adequate effort is given to the endeavor, can be successful and attain what he or she desires. Ideally, all of this is accomplished without thought to who anyone’s great-great-great-great grandfather was named.
This is not to say that name is a totally meaningless concept to modern American society. Certainly the progeny of a rather prolific, hotel-owning family has attained celebrity status due in large part to name, along with acts of relatively gross stupidity. However, I mean to say that name is not an insurmountable barrier as it once was. It has been my experience that no one tends to believe that they are fated to a particular livelihood due simply to who their parents are.
I believe that an improved education system, along with the continued development of the middle class after the Industrial Revolution, allowed for such social development. In today's society, a child from a moderately comfortable family who does at least relatively well throughout public education is in all likelihood capable of going on to higher education. If each of these individuals is presumed to make the most of his or her situation, then each has the potential to work hard and ascend the social ladder. In this manner, the preeminence of high powered, aristrocratic families has decreased drastically even since the time of The House of the Seven Gables. Thus, Hawthorne keys in on a topic of critical importance during his own time which persists to this very day and still provides a driving force for American society.
Probably the greatest strength of this paper is that, despite your tendency to wordiness, it is technically well written from beginning to end; it flows well, and is nicely varied.
You picked a great quote, and did a nice job explaining its importance, although as far as context *within* the novel goes, you could have done more - Hawthorne goes back and forth on the question of whether society is really changing, and it would have been nice to touch on what the narrator says about this issue, as well as what Holgrave & Hepzibah say.
Your tendency to generalize, without quite sufficient attention to details of the text, is noticeable in the part about H7G, but far more so in the part about our time. As both readers point out, you see-saw a little on the issue of how much we have changed; I'll also note that you present no facts at all, which obscures your point further. Most statistics I've seen show that the U.S. has become far *more* stratified by class in the last several decades, for instance, and that it's harder to move between classes. You may not agree - my point is you're making some big claims without even gesturing at proving them, despite a very solid beginning on H7G.
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