Hepzibah Smith, Tobias Snape, & Nathaniel Hawthorne...

[Talisman]

No: HPFGUIDX 140443

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "strina_brulyo" 
<allilova at d...> wrote:
In Message 140098, strina_brulyo wrote:
<Snipping most of post, which can be found at the number provided,
above.>

Strina:
>So it seems quite clear to me that Rowling has planted some
>Hawthorne clues in Book 6. Or are they really clues?

Talisman, currently stirring up a boiling cauldronful of theories,
on a slightly different subject, responds:

I rarely drop by HPfGUs anymore, preferring to post elsewhere, but
Jen Reese recently mentioned reading an interesting Hawthorne post,
and that set me on your trail. I love Hawthorne, so I had to have a
peek.

I must say that reflecting on the HP series has frequently brought 
Hawthorne to mind, more for genre comparison than anything else.
As I've posted several times, long ago (at least back to 2003), I
consider Rowling's style a renewed version of Romanticism,
the genre to which Hawthorne's works belong. (Romanticism as defined 
in Northrup Frye's _Anatomy of Criticism_. 
(N.B. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Romanticism as a 
literary movement, it has nothing to do with paperback romance 
novels.)

I must also say, at the outset, that though I would like to find
Hawthorne in the HP series, and may in fact find interesting
similarities, I can't quite bring myself to believe that Rowling--a 
woman who has insisted on all-Brit actors for the HP movies, and who 
has indicated in an interview that she will not portray 
any "American" witches, beyond the contingent seen at the QWC-- 
would intentionally base, even part, of her series on the works or 
life of such a quintessential American writer.

Nonetheless, here are a few more tidbits of grist for your mill:

Nathaniel Hawthorne was more than a mere resident of Salem, he was a
descendant of local Puritan stock.

We might note here that the Puritans are associated with Calvinism,
as is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which Rowling claims to
attend, although her qualifying comments indicate that she is a 
cheerful heretic.

Hawthorne himself was not an active Calvinist, though he understood 
them.  To the contrary, he was mortified by the behavior of his 
ancestors and their mean-spirited treatment of Quakers and 
supposed "witches," etc.

One such ancestor, in particular, gave Hawthorne reason to feel the
need to address the sins of the old Puritans. John Hathorne
(Nathaniel added the "w" to the family name), actively participated
in the notorious Salem witch trials of 1692, both as an interrogator
and a judge.

As such, John Hathorne had direct culpability in the deaths of 
accused "witches," and, unlike many others, refused to repent of his
behavior, even after the murderous frenzy passed.

Taking a stand against the deeds of his Puritan fathers, Hawthorne's
tales repeatedly disfavor specifically "Puritan" characters. E.g.
The townsfolk who "punish" Hester in _The Scarlet Letter_ are shown
to be the petty, mean, hypocritical purveyors of a degraded
religion, while Hester represents an aspect of the Divine.

"Young Goodman Brown," _The House of Seven Gables_, etc. all reveal
the faults of the self-righteous, intolerant, witch-hunting Puritans.

You could certainly say that, in preferring the witches over the
persecutors, Rowling stands with Hawthorne.

Hawthorne's stories also demonstrate "love" as a transcendent
power. E.g. In Seven Gables, it breaks the curse. In Scarlet Letter
Hester's "A" is transformed into a symbol of Amour. The "A,"
elevated in it's elaborate embroidery, and later, chivalric
escutcheon, is symbolic of the truly Godlike love for mankind that 
Hester demonstrates throughout the tale.

Rowling has set Harry's ability to love as the power Voldemort knows
not, a power of prime importance to LV's "defeat," whatever that
turns out to be.

No matter what, it does seem that Rowling and Hawthorne share some 
stylistic and philosophical views.

This is just a quick response. I've got a few more weeks to devote
to brewing my current pot of theories, but I thank you for bringing
up the lovely Mr. Hawthorne, and I may come back later, to add more.

Talisman, who thinks Hawthorne's "The Maypole of Merry Mount" should
be read aloud at every Thanksgiving table, and who has been known to
scribble graffiti urging "Down with the Puritans" on any surface
that presents itself in November.

P.S. The tolerant Dutch in New Amsterdam (New York) were here before
the Pilgrims. So were the gold-hunting lunatics in the Virginia
colonies, not to mention the Spanish, who established the Castillo
de San Marcos (in St. Augustine FLA) before anyone.

The whole Pilgrims-as-arch-forefathers thing is a nasty bit of
revisionist tripe. Plus, there's very good evidence that they
hijacked the Mayflower, which was supposed to land in Anglican VA,
even though the Pilgrims (the minority on board) had managed to tuck
helpful maps of Plymouth Mass. into their luggage.