The House of the Seven Gables 529something destructive if pursued with unmitigated
greed and avarice, as in the case of the colonel and
Judge Jaffrey.
Jeffrey Pettineo
community in The House of the Seven Gables
How the Pyncheons deal with their declining
social status despite generations of “aristocracy”
is a major concern for Hawthorne. Hepzibah, in
particular, becomes the “new plebian woman” and
is forced to deal with the larger community after
she establishes her cent-shop. Clifford must also
learn to reintegrate into society after the debilitat-
ing effects, both mental and physical, of almost 30
years in prison. Phoebe helps both Hepzibah and
Clifford recover some sense of each character’s
respective place as part of humankind in broader
terms, rather than simply as part of a particular
social class.
Hepzibah’s initial contact with the larger com-
munity is manifest through her cent-shop business,
with initial visits from Holgrave, the little boy
(whom the narrator describes as an “urchin”), and
townsfolk identified as Dixey and Dixey’s friend.
The townsfolk are initially skeptical about Hep-
zibah as well as the potential success of her shop,
noticing her dreadful scowl born out of “ugliness
of temper.” Hepzibah worries about the disregard
of the townsfolk: “She was absurdly hurt, more-
over, by the slight and idle effect that her setting
up shop—an event of such breathless interest to
herself—appeared to have upon the public . . . they
cared nothing for her dignity, and just as little for
her degradation.”
Like Hepzibah, Clifford also has a difficult
time attempting to deal with society. The “Arched
Window” chapter gives us glimpses into the long-
ing of Clifford to “dive” into the “river of life” as he
witnesses an entertainer stopping under an elm to
play music on his organ. Clifford is at once scared
and delighted by the sight: “With a shivering
repugnance at the idea of personal contact with the
world, a powerful impulse still seized on Clifford,
whenever the rush and roar of the human tide grew
strongly audible on him.” Hawthorne describes the
fascination as generating a human longing for con-
nection: “It might so fascinate him, that he would
hardly be restrained from plunging into the surg-
ing stream of human sympathies.” Clifford’s desire
manifests in an attempt to jump down from the
window frame, but Hepzibah and Phoebe interpret
this action as a possible suicide attempt. Clifford,
however, believes that if he had survived the jump,
he would have been a better man for it: “Fear noth-
ing—it is over now—but had I taken that plunge,
and survived it, methinks I would have made me
another man!” Clifford sees this as an attempt not
only to rejoin the community, but also to regain a
sense of what it means to be human, to experience
connections of filial love, what the narrator refers to
as “the broken links of brotherhood.” Moreover, as
Clifford watches Phoebe walk to church, he muses
to Hepzibah that he could possibly see himself in
prayer once again, if he was surrounded by other
people praying in a communal church setting:
“ ‘Were I to be there,’ he rejoined, ‘it seems to me
that I could pray once more, when so many human
souls were praying all around me!’ ” Later in the
novel, when Clifford and Hepzibah are traveling in
the railroad car, Hepzibah feels herself “apart from
humankind,” but Clifford is elated at the thought of
being among other human beings: “Here we are, in
the world, Hepzibah!—in the midst of life!—in the
throng of our fellow beings!”
Compared to Clifford and Hepzibah, Phoebe is
a much more personable and integrated member of
the community, as she never has to face the hard-
ships Clifford underwent, nor the shame that Hep-
zibah feels about her new status. “Phoebe, it must
be understood, was that one little offshoot of the
Pyncheon race to whom we have already referred,
as a native of a rural part of New England, where
the old fashions and feelings of relationship are still
partially kept up.” Moreover, Phoebe’s experiences
regarding the mingling of classes were not consid-
ered “improper”: “In her own circle, it was regarded
as by no means improper for kinsfolk to visit one
another, without invitation, or preliminary and cer-
emonious warning.” Phoebe, therefore, becomes an
exemplar for social integration.
Hawthorne’s own experiences in helping estab-
lish the utopian community at Brook Farm were
probably responsible, at least in part, for his con-
cern with community and brotherhood, themes