Poe vs. Hawthorne “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.” Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American Romantic writer born July 4th, 1804. Hawthorne is known for being the grandson of William Hathorne, a harsh man who participated in the judging of the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne spent his whole life running from his past by relocating his family and adding a “w’ to his last name to distance himself from his grandfather’s legacy. Edgar Allan Poe’s life has been described as being “haunted by death.” Poe’s mother died when he was only 3 years old and his wife died 11 years after they married when she was only 24. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne…show more content… Nathaniel Hawthorne is described as “an intensely private man who allowed few to know him well.” Possibly he allowed few to know him well because of his plagued legacy. Hawthorne was a Puritan descendant and the great-great-grandchild of a judge who participated in sentencing at the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne was very ashamed of his family’s history and did all he could to distance himself from being associated with it. Although he was ashamed of his family he shared the same beliefs that everyone was basically sinful. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” Hawthorne says “There is an hour to come, when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape till then.” This quote means that there will be a time when everyone’s veil will uncover them for who they are, which plays into his belief that everyone is sinful. Poe’s life was plagued by the death’s of the women in his family. First his mother died when he was only 3 and then his wife preceded him in death when she was only 24. Poe’s poem “The Raven” is about a man mourning his lost love. In “The Raven” Poe says “For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore
