True to its roots as a Gothic novel, the atmosphere of The House of the Seven Gables broods with ambiguity and fear, with this uncertainty culminating in moments of heightened suspense. In these moments, author Nathaniel Hawthorne breeds tension with a terse syntactical style, igniting imagination with suggestive language, and frustrating ... all observable evidence as obscured, Hawthorne forces us to face a deep-seated desire for clarity in the world. Without this clarity, we, like Phoebe, become fearful-however, the pervasiveness of ambiguity challenges us to consider how indistinct our wo...

• Word Count: 1547
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

... community to visit Hester in prison, the community also pressured Dimmesdale's first act of hypocritical utterance before the people (Steward 162). Hester Pryne's first sin was in evidently adultery. Her ambiguity twinged both Dimmesdale and Chillingsworth. When Hester realized the affects that the concealment of Chillingsworth's true identity had on Dimmesdale, she told him in the forest. She lied to Chillingsworth ... ...

• Word Count: 1751
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... all the character's actions, incorporating a dismal tone, supernatural occurrences, and symbolism. The author, at no point, "stretched" or exaggerated a situation, but instead left it for the reader to decide. Hawthorne's ambiguity works beautifully in the novel and is first evident in the case of Mistress Hibbins. The reader is never told that she is a witch, but her unusual appearances make her ... ...

• Word Count: 1296
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School