The Bondage of the Past

The Bondage of the Past
Taking responsibility for one’s actions is difficult, but being punished for someone else’s sin is
a more harrowing thought Thankfully, most people now feel that only and individual should be
punished. Nathaniel Hawthorne, however, believed his ancestor’s sin would be visited upon
himself, so he wrote “The House of the Seven Gables”. In this novel, because of past events,
peace in the present cannot be made until sin is resolved.
The House’s past casts and unsightly shadow on the face of the present. Colonial Puncheon,
the founder of the house, although long deceased, has an eminent negative effect on the present.
Terence states, “As long as the Colonial continues to stare down from the wall, the Pyncheons
must pursue his goal of establishing firm claim to the vast tract of land in the East” (129).
Although the Colonial is no longer palpable, the actuality of his picture hanging on the wall leaves
tangi...