On this day, 221 years ago, on July 4, 1804 (May 27, 1804 lunar calendar), the famous American novelist Hawthorne was born. Nathaniel Hawthorne, (NathanielHawthorne1804~ 1864) American novelist, was the most influential romantic novelist and psychological novelist in the United States in the 19th century. Born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, in a decrepit family. One of his ancestors was involved in the Puritan persecution of heretics and was one of the three judges in the famous "Salem witch drive" in 1692. This history had a profound impact on Hawthorne's thinking. Hawthorne's father was a captain who died when he was 4 years old. In 1821, Hawthorne entered Bodoine College with the support of his relatives. Among his classmates were the poet Longfellow and Pierce, who was later elected president. After graduating from college in 1825, he returned to Salem Town and engaged in writing. He published his novel "Fanshaw" (1828) and dozens of short stories anonymously, and successively published short story collections "Moss of the Old House" (1843) and "Shadow of Snow" (1851), etc., which gradually gained attention and praise. Hawthorne's short stories are mostly based on the history or real life of New England, focusing on issues such as human nature and human destiny. The famous short stories "Young Man Brown" and "The Dean's Black Veil" expose the hidden evils of everyone, expressing the views that human nature is evil and human beings are lonely. Other novels, such as "The Daughter of Dr. Labersini," reflect his skepticism of science and reason, as well as his opposition to extremism and bigotry. "The Railroad to the Sky" points out that technological progress enriches people's material enjoyment, but corrupts people's spirit. There are a few works that express Hawthorne's ideals positively, such as "Stone Face Portrait"; others recount the anti-British struggle of the people of the New England colonies, but often with a strong religious atmosphere and mystery. Hawthorne served twice in customs in 1836 and 1846, and in 1841 he participated in Brook Farm founded by Transcendentalists. He married in 1842 and lived in Concord Village, where he met writers Emerson, Thoreau and others. In 1848, due to political differences with the authorities, he lost his post in customs and devoted himself to creative activities. He wrote his most important novel, The Scarlet Letter (1850). This work is set in colonial New England and describes a young woman bound by an unreasonable marriage who commits adultery, which is strictly prohibited by Calvinism. It exposes some of the darkness in colonial society under the rule of the theocracy at that time. The author painstakingly describes Hester Prynne, a young woman who has been spiritually rehabilitated after a long period of atonement, the priest Dimmstell, who has been rebuked by faith and conscience for a long time, and the husband Roger, who is full of vengeance and has completely dehumanized Prynne. The novel begins with prison and roses and ends with a cemetery, full of rich symbolism. After the publication of "The Scarlet Letter" was a great success, Hawthorne went on to create many works. One of them, "The House with the Seven Corners" (1851), describes the murder of the ancestors of the Pinchin family and the retribution of their descendants, showing that wealth is a scourge, "the sins of a generation will befall the descendants"; this novel also reflects the bloody plunder in the early days of capitalism. Another novel, "The Legend of Fortune Valley" (1852), is about life on Brooke's farm, expressing the author's disappointment with this attempt at social reform and his disgust with fanatical reformers. After Pierce was elected president of the United States, Hawthorne was appointed consul to Liverpool in England in 1853. After 1857, Hawthorne lived in Italy and wrote another novel on good and evil, "The Jade Statue" (1860). Hawthorne returned to the United States in 1860, settled in Concord, and continued to write. He died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind four unfinished novels. Hawthorne was a writer full of ideological contradictions, and he was deeply influenced by the Puritan tradition of New England. On the one hand, he rebelled against this tradition, attacking religious fanaticism and narrow and hypocritical religious beliefs; on the other hand, he was bound by this tradition, and understood society and the whole world with the Calvinist concept of good and evil. The writer Herr Melville once pointed out that his work is permeated with "the Calvinist concept of'human nature 'and'original sin'." Hawthorne was conservative in thought, resistant to the development of production and technological progress, skeptical of social reform, and did not understand the flourishing abolitionist movement at that time. These are all revealed in his works. In art, he is unique, good at psychological description, good at revealing the inner conflicts of characters. He called his novels "psychological romance". He devoted himself to uncovering the hidden meanings behind things, and his works were rich in imagination and rigorous in structure. Main works: The Scarlet Letter (1850) The Scarlet Letter -----atreatmentoftheeffectsofsinonthehumanspirit TheHouseofSevenGables (1851) The House with Seven Corners TheBlithedaleRomance (1852) The Legend of Fugu The Marble Faun (1860) The Jade Statue Review: The theme of his works is profound, the structure is rigorous, and his influence is far-reaching in the 19th century.