The Custom House is a preface to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; through the Custom House Hawthorne gives an insight into the problems emerging from historical knowledge and epistemology in relation to society. It also sets the romantic mood of the story through the description of the scarlet letter and narrator’s immediate feelings attached to it.
Hawthorne wrote at a time when America was battling to be free of European traditions in America and his introduction begins with a discourse on American history and culture to encourage patriotism and true sense of being an American, he establishes a universal appeal in the story so that American culture can be part of the world. American sense is identified with the eagle over the door of Custom House.
Hawthorne didn’t want the readers to reduce the struggles of Hester and Dimmesdale as a disapproval of the puritan society, or as a product of social and moral system. He wished to fight such interpretations through the custom house; he presents a balanced view of the puritan heritage not only for Hester’s time but for present age as well. The custom house shows puritans as founder of Salem and questions if they are still significant or not. Narrator treats Hester and the scarlet letter in very naïve terms as it allows the reader to judge the letter in their own terms possibly favorably.
The custom house also provides the reader with the initial debate over writing the story, his challenge to make it a meaningful and emotional story, which would affect every reader and would not be neglected in the real world. The narrator’s connection with the manuscript and scarlet letter has a powerful impact on him; this removes the story from its old time and places it in the present age so it can be analyzed according to modern times.
Marshall Van Dutch says that the custom house also familiarizes us with the narratorial voice later seen in The Scarlet Letter, “we recognize the voice because we have met the speaker in the custom house” (Dutch 253). This familiarization forces the reader to take the critical commentary of narrator seriously.
The custom house links the Narrator with Hester, they have much in common with each other, they both have puritan ancestory and they both feel alienated from society, Hester is cast off by society and narrator doesn’t feel comfortable with his colleagues such as the inspector. Both of them wish to find people who would understand them. He feels he will be reduced to a name on the custom stamp like Hester is reduced to a few old pages and a piece of cloth. This identification gives the story a hope of universalization.
Thus the custom house introduces us to the coming story and the puritan background that is attached to it. Hawthorne acquaints the readers with the narrator who will be present throughout the story; he simplifies the letter ‘A’ in the custom house in terms of fashionable embroidery so multiple meanings can be attached to it and horizon of the story of Hester Prynne expands.
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Fingerprint classics. 2016. Print.
Van Deusen, Marshall. “Narrative Tone in ‘The Custom House’ and The Scarlet Letter.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 21, no. 1, 1966, pp. 61–71. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2932699.
Written By-
Deepali Yadav
M.A English
University of Delhi
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