Sandy 1

Kim Sandy

Mrs. Cassler

AP English

September 20, 2010

Analysis of Judge Pyncheon from an Excerpt of

The House of the Seven Gables

The narrator's acknowledgement of Judge Pyncheon seems quite as severe as the

character himself. To the reader, the image of Judge Pyncheon is somewhat clarified due

to a mass of hidden meanings. This excerpt from The House of Seven Gables, seemingly

mocks the Judge based on a numerous variety of notions. The reader senses that the tone

and syntax of the story seemingly reveal the narrator's sarcastic view of the diminishing

Judge Pyncheon.

From the very beginning of Hawthorne's passage, the narrator transmits the so-

called respectability of Judge Pyncheon. : "The purity of his judicial character; the

faithfulness of his public service in subsequent capacities; his devotedness to his party."

The narrator describes Judge Pyncheon's good as something bad. Some sentences in the

excerpt even contradict one another, : "The cleanliness of his moral development, for a

great many years past; the severity with which he had frowned upon, and finally cast off,

an expensive and dissipated son, delaying forgiveness until within the final quarter of an

hour of the young man's life." This almost shows that Judge Pyncheon's moral

development has subsided due to the fact that he didn't even forgive his dying son until

the last hour of his life. The way the narrator cynically describes the judge gives the
reader a bad reputation for him all together.

There is a great amount of significance seen when describing the character of

Judge Pyncheon. The narrator mentions the so-called good that Judge Pyncheon has done

within in his lifetime, when in all actuality, Pyncheon is not what he portrays himself to

be. His “one wrong act” overshadows everything that he feels he is. “Let it overshadow

the fair aspect of a lifetime!” This is why the narrator describes the Judge as they do. The

narrator describes Judge Pyncheon in a highly cynical way.

“A hard, cold man, thus unfortunately situated, seldom or never looking inward,

and resolutely taking his idea of himself from what purports to be his image, as reflected

in the mirror of public opinion, can scarcely arrive at true self-knowledge, except through

the loss of property and reputation.” Judge Pyncheon tries to repress what is really is, by

covering up all of his faults with his so-called accomplishments. He is a person who does

not truly look inside himself and he fails to recognize the fact that he is not as noteworthy

as he wants to portray himself as. Obviously, the narrator finds this eminent fact as

something appalling, and notes it otherwise. He disputes it by saying that he helps the

poor, but wears nice clothes and his “handsome gold-headed cane.” Judge Pyncheon’s

morality is so high, yet he doesn’t forgive his dying son until the last hour of his life.

Consequently, a satirical approach is obviously notified by the reader.

Through use of syntax and a multitude of literary methods, Nathaniel Hawthorne

emphasizes the fact that this specific character happens to be fabricated. His fabricated

account of himself makes Judge Pyncheon try to be something he is not. It is highly

crucial to recognize the fact that the narrator finds this certain character a sham. Judge

Pyncheon is unquestionably a fake to himself and society.