Hawthorne’S Redemption: The Mystery of the Scarlet Letter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Editor’s Prologue

Section I

Preface

Introduction

Section II

The Allegorist

Romanticism, Anti-Transcendentalism, and Puritanism

The American Experiment and Beyond

The Problem of Sin

The Paradox of Pain

The Characters of the Allegory

The Hidden Message

The Confession

Code of Silence

Heresy Apparent

Section III

The Custom House–Introductory

The Prison-Door and the Market-Place

The Recognition

The Interview

Hester at Her Needle

Pearl

The Governor’s Hall

The Elf-Child and the Minister

The Leech

The Leech and His Patient

The Interior of a Heart

The Minister’s Vigil

Another View of Hester

Hester and the Physician

Hester and Pearl

A Forest Walk

The Pastor and His Parishioner

A Flood of Sunshine

The Child at the Brookside

The Minister in a Maze

The New England Holiday and the Procession

The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter

Conclusion

Editor’s Epilogue

Appendix 1 References

Appendix 2 Extractions

Appendix 3 An Apology

Bibliography

"A writer of story-books!

What kind of a business in life,—

what mode of glorifying God,

or being serviceable to mankind

in his day and generation,—may that be?"

Nathaniel Hawthorne

*     *     *

"A little learning is a dangerous thing;

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:

There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,

And drinking largely sobers us again."

Alexander Pope

**

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So is a lot."

Albert Einstein

Acknowledgements

This work, written for laymen by a layman, however pretentious, insular, or unprofessional it may appear to be in the eyes of the learned, stems from my faintest recollections and sketchy notes of an unknown student’s analysis of The Scarlet Letter. While it is possible we may have been students at the same university, my acquaintance with him, however, is fairly limited to the contents of this book.

As his editor, I ascribe the entirety of this work to the unknown Mr. Daniel Bayinhund, if that be any likely identification, inasmuch as the papers I found bore this name, and may constitute one of the last of his academic adventures at our old alma mater. He may yet appear, unless he has gone the way of all flesh, and lay claim to all that to which he is rightly entitled, to which request his editor would gladly acquiesce. For that matter, how his work got this far should be credited more to the sagacity of others than to any of my own, for it has taken me years to drum up the nerve to impose Daniel’s text upon the literary mind, or rather, upon the liberality of our higher educators, though I may stand in danger of even higher censure by those more conservative in thought. I have long since lost the papers from which I relate his ideas; and, fortunately, for his sake only, I have found a courageous publisher who has put his hunches a little ahead of his better sense in challenging Hawthorne’s critics, however far under some of them, too, may be.

To Bayinhund give we the credit, or the blame, either for creating an innovative analogy where there was none, or for demonstrating a keen analytical insight that purports to resolve the mystery of Hawthorne’s novel. We have done so in proper order to discharge oblations to an alter ego, to whom I made an oath years ago to bring Daniel’s moment of genius to the public’s view, if I could, however small and insignificant that effort might be, as it were, from the sepulcher of his faded mind. Today’s students of fine literature, should they ever have the opportunity, may like to forage among the tidbits of Daniel’s insight. No less, Mr. Who may likewise have had in mind to delight in what commentary both friendlys and unfriendlys may pleasure in the matter. I myself have been torn between enthusiasm and reticence, between the pleasure I have derived from the experience of digesting that insight, and the qualms of transmitting it. In any case, it is with an easy trepidation I accept the challenge of an incessant conscience.

Ambiguous, obscure, and fanciful may sum the terms critics have used to describe Hawthorne’s tale. But Bayinhund, in a fancy of his own, has dared to assume to have clarified Hawthorne’s ambiguity, sounded the depths of his literary genius, and, lo and behold, perhaps unified the meanings of the allegory surrounding the scarlet letter. Or we may say, that he has done nothing of the sort, but created an elaborate scarlet letter all his own. But it is time for the general public to sharpen their teeth upon the matter as much as has Hawthorne’s literary critics.

Since the time of my original discovery of Mr. Bayinhund’s documents, I have had occasion to discuss his interpretations with only a few, one of which is a dear lifemate, who, may her name be praised, has patiently resisted them; and should they likewise fall hapless upon other less fortunates, who may likewise fear as I to be misaligned with them, I must credit her influence as most beneficial in whetting my appetite to present them and in inspiring my method of doing so. An English teacher, who is disinclined among the many to believe the essential premise of Bayinhund’s analysis, and who has maintained little reticence as to her judgment thereof, she has nevertheless helped tremendously in ways other than simple grammatical suggestions, if no other than by the strength of her responses, in bringing this work to publication.

Her position is most tenable. Swamped in the lore and legend of Hawthorne’s abstruseness, a teacher of such can do no less, unless some spark of intuition hold sway on such a repast, squelch the surface incrimination in his tale, stifle one’s own intellectual whims, and look for some ray of sunshine from such a ghastly yarn. That is quite a sum of tasks for any student, especially to do so in the face of the respectable guardians of such a repast. Others, some of whom repute in the same academic field, seem to share a similar literary assessment, without so much as even a hint of daring to go intellectually further. In fact indeed, they are part of a majority, I have found, that has distinguished the singularity of the minority.

Perhaps such an in-depth, impersonal approach would require much more control over one’s own presuppostions and prejudices than can be mustered at a particular moment in time. Perhaps the majority of democratic minds hinge on the whiff of what is the most popular at the time, and the uniqueness of the new may need more support from the few mavericks who prefer to air their views in the face of the common notion rather than to acquiesce for fear of censure.

Opposition to such a notion is therefore very understandable, for anything new on the subject might not only be questionable but, heaven forbid, sacrilegious to the old Bard himself, who apparently did not want to be fully understood by every casual reader anyway. The outshot of such dyed-in-the-wool largess may strongly mitigate against any change of mind in the literary field, but may nudge the appetite of the more free-thinking young student not so overwhelmed by past prejudices. To such, this exposition is dedicated, in memory of my own young unbiased mind, for they may be more inclined to take issue with established customs, yet perhaps wise enough to support or modify them when other forthcoming evidence outweighs the contrary.

For an academic review of Bayinhund’s analysis, perhaps more to test the permeability of those waters than to confirm that larger sentiment, an attempt, however vain and misguided it may have been, was made to publish a short paper in the Nathaniel Hawthorne Review. Dr. Frederick Newberry, a professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and editor of the periodical, despite his colleagues’ refusal to consider the text worthy of publication in their journal, was kind and professional enough to direct my misalliance to the works of Becker and Muirhead, both of which were apparently not available to Daniel Bayinhund at the time of his analysis, and one of which has been scrutinized carefully in an appendix because it strengthens Daniel’s views. Methinks the professor was graciously condescending to make such a reference, especially in view of my half-hearted attempts to get Daniel’s analysis published in his worthy publication, of which he may have had no close or large connection. It is highly a mark of exceptional integrity for a man of renown to aid the infantile efforts of a possibly contrary spirit.

However, in view of the lengthy and detailed list of his editors’ objections to that feeble attempt, from a scholarly point of view, methinks they unitedly protested too much, thus reinforcing my eagerness for a second and more thorough review. Not having full access to Daniel’s complete analysis, which only now is forthcoming, their position likewise is most tenable. Several other publishers, as publishers go, perhaps for lack of time and energy, would accept nothing from a nobody either, or the nobody’s nobody.

So the analysis has sat, as on a moss-covered stone, far from the beaten path of common commerce, hemmed in on both sides by the dark forests of academia, for some long period of time, the interval of which has fixed my attention, from Daniel’s perspective, to more details in Hawthorne’s novel. Not that I have attempted most ardently to follow the modern customs of our scholarly scribes in presenting a more learned approach. That justifiably might require more authoritative quotation that I am want to provide, in order to speak with any more worthy substance; rather, I have simply advanced Bayinhund’s ideas from his own intuitive interpretations, as best as I could from memory, in conjunction with this latter, more refined vigil, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster from my experience of his experience. Come what may, it is time to throw Daniel’s ideas on the public mind, and leave to chance and reason what might become of it.

In view of advancing anything new and enlightening, I do so mindful of the difficulty others have entertained in a different but similar field, who, rather than subscribing to the academic standards of their day, instead addressed their public from their own impressions, in analogies and parables, like unto Hawthorne, which they also claimed to obtain directly from a higher authority. Time has proven those students’ mark on society; and this purveyor, of something he deems bright and promising in Daniel’s exposition, would hope, at the least, that his and Hawthorne’s grandchildren might exult in his redemption, whether Hawthorne’s, Daniel’s, or mine.

Nevertheless, a contemporary of Bayinghund’s, whose work has been more readily accepted among his kind, might also bear some witness to the soundness of this purveyance, and open the way for some consideration, if not acceptance, of what might be judged outrageously new on the subject. Becker’s scholarly analysis has been weighed in the balance in Appendix 2 in order to show its relevance to Bayinghund’s conclusions as a worthy academic foundation for his lofty ideas.

Becker may have done Bayinhund justice by taking his own analysis to the very brink of literary credibility. However, he appears perhaps to have been a little too academically cautious in advancing too far beyond the mien of obscurity, which apparently has been enshrined around Hawthorne’s tale. He may have had substantial reasons for daring to go no further, for had he done so, some of his comrades in arms might not have hesitated to remind him of present-day literary protocol.

No less credit for this airing goes to Gregory Widman, a minister and friend of mine, who read pertinent portions of this book and rendered his concurrence that it might be fit for public consumption, as a Christian text. In his defense, I must admit that I do not know the extent to which he shared my own dubious judgment, or the reader might not now be entertaining himself possibly at my expense. I failed to ask for his literary opinion, perhaps because I had already obtained the more expert from closer quarters on that matter. I was willing to leave the summum bonum of that to the first publisher having the foresight and the courage to foist either innovation or enlightenment upon the public mind. I have had my own doubts concerning both regards; but then, again, I have felt compelled intuitively to make the attempt out of a fair, if not misdirected, conscience, and, hopefully, not too distant from the sound reasoning of mind perhaps a little better-ordered than in his youth.

I have presented Mr. Bayinhund’s analysis in his stead, with the aid of a few references, in the first person, simply in the interest of identity. Since the question of source often first chances to cross the minds of those whose disagreement flourishes on cherished traditions, in all fairness to him, I must put myself in the more accurate position as only his half-hearted and posthumous editor. Inasmuch as it purports chiefly to reflect Bayinhund’s own experiences with Hawthorne’s novel, with only a squalid review of the few critics he may have studied, this book is not intended as meat for a scholar’s table. Though his editor is still in the midst of studying Hawthorne’s works, and, with less intensity, those of his critics, he would be most content should one or two of his descendants fondly peruse the ruminations of an ancient ghostwriter, point out the identify of Mr. Who, reverence the source of all truth, and credit the means whereby it cometh.

Editor’s Prologue

Plagiarism may not often come so delicately branded, or indiscretion feign to hide the embarrassment written well enough over most of its face. The editor does not mind the timidity of the latter in vouching for a fellow student—whom he really never met face to face in the flesh—nor speaking for him in his absence, or even doing so without his express permission. For this may very well be the only way to unearth him, thus giving him the opportunity of confronting his editor with the former, and claiming for himself what is rightfully his. This lackey most heartedly and upfront attests that the ideas presented in this volume are entirely Mr. Bayinhund’s. Were he to come forth, or become readily known, and so accost the editor himself, he would surrender all credit, or blame, for the ideas he believes Daniel would have shared as openly as his humble footman. That should have to be the gracious case in point in order to redeem his indiscretion, or to prove otherwise.

It behooves him, therefore, but with no large measure of confidence in the enterprise, to attempt to relate the ruminations of a would-be scholar, if not to the interests of academia, at least to the curiosity of fellow students who would understand a masterpiece of American literature. Those who stand in awe of Hawthorne, and are still perplexed by all the failed attempts of our well-known and distinquished scholars to sort out the mysterious meanings of his most popular novel, may still wallow somewhat in the mire of ambiguity surrounding that tale, and fain would have some greater understanding of one of the most misunderstood works of art. At the same time, it least bothers the editor to speak in behalf of his friend, if I may speak personally, first to relate the circumstances surrounding his fate, who probably by now, if not so many years ago, has passed away in some obscure and equivocal ignominity. Death is probably too harsh a label for it, however, for he may very well be alive and kicking elsewhere still, perhaps even restored from the state whereof last evidence of his demise was found, which, as Daniel himself called it, seems to have been accomplished mostly by a kind of decapitation. Although it appears he likely became a nobody in his own mind, if losing one’s academic head qualifies one so, I have come to gain a little more respect for the contents thereof, if not in perfect agreement therewith. I have had occasion to explore the ruminations of that appendage, after it took leave of absence, more carefully in the intervening years, and feel somewhat to say that I have been seduced, against my better senses, to follow suit, although at my age, das macht nichts.

Perhaps fewer students commit suicide, however, than succomb to the honorary halls of academia, over such a simple sin of which my friend, Daniel, was accused. Nevertheless, it is but that one ebb of scholastic life I feel bound to redeem, that one sin I am unmercilessly driven by something inside me to exonerate, however squalid the attempt might be.

Some forty years ago, while perhaps in my intellectual birth, and given to late night vigils at the library of one of the larger schools in one of the valleys of the Uinta Mountains, I came upon a large parcel of yellowish papers stuck in a copy of Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, which I had found hidden away in back of a bust of the bard himself, in an out-of-the-way corner of the library’s lowest level floor. I use the word, bard, loosely, in Bayinhund’s behalf, as it was he who referred to Hawthorne as the Bard of Boston, because of the maze of metaphors and parables he cleverly twisted into a red and black tale of gloom and hope. Whether the book had been placed upon Hawthorne’s head, and fallen off later, or purposefully lodged out of sight in its secure spot, was a question I was as apt to consider as any other, large or small, at that stuporous hour of the night. At the time I wondered if the experience was more of a dream than a reality, or if the reality of the find was merely an invention of its author.

At such a moment, when one’s vigil comes in a package of several nights to meet some nearing deadline, the body and mind seem to cooperate in a kind of Pavlovian symbiosis, somewhat apart from one’s own ego, which itself seems to float somewhat above its catbird seat, and passively observe what the interactions between the two may conjure up next. So I knew not whether I was in the body or out, or spaced half-way in some dream between one world and another, or hallucinating the whole event for lack of a sufficient state of mind, as it were some kind of coma induced by no less than an inexplicable impulse to escape the awful reality contriving it. Perhaps it is such a moment when intuition is loosened from the rational mind, and is able to transcend the boundaries often imposed upon it, thus working some wonder in search of what might be called, or alleged, as truth. Such vigils have awakened genius, so it seems, and students are ever so disposed to identify with it.

In this state of mind, or lack of it, I may have leaned against the wall, with my eyes closed or open, I cannot tell; but something inside me must have peeked down behind the smooth and rusty-red marble of the bust, upon which I had placed my left hand for support—the feel of which itself may have opened up that intuitive conduit—and spotted in the shadows a shape out of sorts with them. It was a book whose hard-bound binding, with a long tear down its thin scarlet cover, was black as pitch. I marveled that I could have even noticed it at all; but the mind had said, Pick it up, and the body replied, I did, and Mr. Who, who had taken a back seat to the whole enterprise, suddenly awoke and interjected sarcastically, Please, let’s just pretend that I’ve completely vacated the premises! It was beyond all reason, for I had other things to do, and hours to go before I could afford the luxury of completely allowing such independent thought and action of my comrads.

The poor student, Brother Bayinhund, whose name was noted on an unfortunate package folded inside the book, mayhaps have been content to dispose of his genius so, without the slightest concern whether some other lackluster wit should stumble upon it, and, ignorantly so, chance another pass of it at some other discontented journeyman. One such evidently had seemingly had the lavish pleasure of marking the contents of the papers with almost as much indelible red ink as there was black thereon. A specific proscription limits how much carbon can be deposited upon a particularly sized sheet—perhaps for the reason of the same result thus obtained—and I would have to say, in all fairness to the average student, upon a more careful and unbiased examination, that there was considerably more red ink than black, as though that was the very intent or calculation for the restriction.

However, I do not wish to accuse myself of being unfair to the brighter professors of higher education. Though it may seem difficult for some students to surmise they have found one—to which difficulty Brer Bayinhund might readily attest—perhaps the more part of them might be really rather given less to distancing their genius from that of their students than to promoting their own. In my own regards, I have met many academians for whom I had utmost respect and admiration.

Inasmuch as students may be inclined to give only a superficial glance at other student’s literary efforts, unless they are really hard up for individual thought other than their own—the sum of which is often wearisome at any hour of the night or day—I might have dismissed the event altogether, especially since the bundle was thick, containing two compositions, one with no bloody commentary, and the other sporting a gigantic red C that composed half the title page. For some unfathomable reason, Bayinhund had doodled a flowery design around the perimeter of his scarlet shame, as though he had plenty of idle moments thereafter to consider the effects of defeat.

As I say, I probably would have just rolled my eyes, had they not already been under the remote control of who knows who at such a transfixed hour, and had I not noticed the falling of a small square piece of memo paper from the contents thereof. I debated the worth of stooping to retrieve it, but since I was no longer the captain of my ship, I discovered that my fingers had already beat my consciousness to it. Slow motion often buffers the zone between sanity and unsanity, and I could scarcely tell whether I was still quite safe enough. But, as it so happened, moment adds to moment what next the eye takes unto itself, and the transformation thereby soon helped redeem me from past confusions.

Yet I must confess that it was not fellow pity, nor simply some curiosity of the mind, that bade me haunt that lonely corner, and absorb the shadows for the remainder of the night. What I am about to relate may cause the reader to question in disbelief, but must not accuse my mind of any invention; for I had no sooner clasped the small note as to drop it and leap back from the place, as though a red scorpion had bitten my finger, and, in the delusion of the hour, the poison spreading instantly over my entire soul and body. Or, like as it were, for a more logical conclusion, perhaps a sharp-witted pin in the note had pricked me, and the shock thereof had clothed my whole person, like the fearful premonition of an intimidating shadow in the back alley of a dead-end street. Be that as it may, the piercing affliction faded as instantaneously as it came, and I eventually ventured to examine the appendage to see if there were some insensitive demon on it laying claim to my precious blood. None such, however, was evidently lost, my finger still as smooth as the bard’s head, and the memo actually pinless.

It was the mystery of the sensation itself though, and nothing else, that compelled my fingers cautiously and slowly to unfold the jaundiced sheets to seek some connection between the inexplicable pain I had experienced and the scribbling thereon. The sting seemed to awaken some searching part of my inner self, not the mind and not the body, none less pehaps than the inquisitive Mr. Who, whose impulsive nature, upon being roused from his ubiquitous slumber, finally jammed the rudder of my soul, and demanded my complete focus, howbeit still beyond all rational appeal.

The handwriting on the slip that caught my eye seemed to contain some message not obviously as simplistic as the topic indicated; and its distinctly indescript and illegible scribble must have challenged the curiosity of my languorous mind, or something like it, which moved my body out of its passive midnight mood. That I know, because I remember discovering it fumbling around on the floor just a little behind my fingers, which located before the rest of me where the scarlet slip had finally rested. I could barely translate but one sentence, something to the effect of questioning Brother Bayinhund’s source of information, or where he got the crazy idea, or something else as impertinently as an unspoken reproof can be couched without the blatant stamp of rudeness.

In examining the manuscript from which the slip had fallen, and beholding the extent of comments carefully inscribed thereon, I discovered another small piece of paper lodged between its pages. Nothing appeared upon the memo at all, not a word or symbol, nor a mark of any kind to signal its purpose. Small, square, of the same dimensions as the memo, and as crimson as the large C flourished upon the manuscript, it likewise cast a mysterious spell upon the whole enterprise. However, I surmised that it was some kind of inferior classification used peculiarly by the professor to label his students, or the works thereof, and dismissed it from my mind as best as I could.

The other paper probably never obtained the eyes of the professor, as it was spared this red-gutted humiliation, perhaps because it was only Daniel’s autobiographical reaction to the one stamped with his critic’s genius, or to some other unfair and unsparing judgment. Or perhaps the bloodless manuscript was an attempt to salvage the remains of Bayinhund’s graduate status after the red-stained other had met its apparent fiasco. Whichever document predated the other, had his personal defense been submitted, it would probably only have been regarded no more than the frustrated yelps of a puppy lost in his own back yard. Were these documents yet to be found and come forth unto the general public today, however unlikely the prospect, those yelps might be deemed erroneously, and similarly, no less than the baying howls of some abandoned and aging hound, awakening in the middle of a dream, and thinking that some crow or two were still in pursuit of him. Brevity bids me relate only the substance of this pure and undefiled document, though I am still in a quandary as to whether or not it should have been included along with Daniel’s analysis. The student reader may choose to dismiss or ponder its relevance, for it may only serve as an insignificant analogy to the prospects thereof.

It must have been much later that I awoke to whispers and scuffling of other anxious vigils, my usual alarm for the last few mornings, and was about to accord the night’s enrapture as merely a dream. But there on the table, by my left hand, lay the black book in its scarlet sleeve, with the tear half way down its front; and beside it, near my right, lay the black and red mosaic of Daniel’s manuscript, and Prof. A. Pollon’s handwriting thereon, with the muted argument placed beneath it, the crimson symbol and note weighing them both down before me. Then my mind flashed back the promise I had made earlier to Mr. Who, and the conversation previous thereto. Pursue, said he, and redeem the treasure lost to your brother. But beware, he warned me, lest you account yourself with his merits and further his shame. And I remember answering, Very well, if I have no choice in the matter, before losing everything to the refuge of slumber again.

As I said, that was some few years ago, and I regret to say, I have not kept that comatose promise as faithfully as I may have intended. Why the interval of my silence has been so long extended may have been what I deemed I owed myself and family first. Or maybe it was the sad visage of fellow Bayinhund assuring me that the professor was probably right, and any rudeness immaterial. Why I should now awaken and attempt a redemption may be due, to some measure, to having obtained relief from those demands upon my temporal focus. Or perhaps it was the spector of the professor whispering in my ear his eternal affront to the freshness of thought that kept provoking the mad man within me. I really cannot tell, but since I have as little to lose as our fellow student, I have wandered into the fray, or begun it, though not with as much enthusiasm perhaps as did Bayinhund before his disfranchisement. Be it as it may, any resulting ruckus may be attributed to a confusion of past and present prejudices, which customarily often come into play with the introduction of a new idea.

And yet, I should have had more admiration for his keen insights and not have been so reluctant to support them. Yes, from the pitch of his papers, wherein he was convinced he had evidenced a particularly venerable image in Hawthorne’s gloomy tale, he sometimes seemed to have asserted the same a little too assuredly, and much too often, as though repetition were the better valor of persuasion, or brainwashing, as the more sensible may be inclined to call it. Perhaps I should have at least ventured with no less than a spoonful more of liveliness than his on the day he suffered the cutting edge of the professor’s pen. Alhough I may have averted much abuse by the complete failure thereto, sad to say, I might otherwise have afflicted the public mind some several years earlier instead. Therefore, and nevertheless, being thus split over the matter, like the oneness of lifemates, I hazard the prospect of being fully understood.

It is to my credit or censure that I kept those maligned papers for some long time, probably out of the sense that someday I might in all honesty keep my oath to Mr. Who, who from time to time would hound me to forage my friends for affirmation of Bayinhund’s ideas. Many an hour I would meditate upon the contents of Bayinhund’s papers, after winning little in argument with my better half, before, alas, though perhaps all better for the transformation, I finally lost them. Nevertheless, trying with much effort to decipher the red hieroglyphic commentary in the margins, and in between the double-spaced lines, and on the back of each page, and, indeed, as it were, upon every space that once was pure and white as the bliss of ignorance, I came to conclude that the argument of one sounded just as reasonable as the other.

Perhaps Mr. Who would not have been so relentless had not the professor been so liberal and prolific with his merciless acrimony. So scorching at times in fact that, as I gazed often and intently upon the pulpy-red sheets, I thought I saw, or some part of me saw, a gist of smoke rising from their surface, like as from the glow of embers, as though the burning had no end of trying to consume the carbon script thereupon. The smoke seemed to fade toward and into the array of scholastic journals sitting idly upon the library’s shelves. Methinks the professor protests too much, Mr. Who seemed to say, mindless that the matter was no longer in his hand, and that he ought to butt out. Nevertheless, the more I pondered, the more I began to understand the mosaic patterns of Bayinhund’s analysis, the style of which, to agree with the professor, may not have been, though digestible, the most appetizing.

I reluctantly relate the contents of his untouched autobiographical defense first, inasmuch as it may have some distant connection with the professor’s commentary upon the other, the substance of which perhaps should also be addressed, though neither distinctly nor directly. Though I have taken the liberty of condensing the rather lengthy sketch of his graduate history—as it probably would be interesting to no one other than Bayinhund himself—the reader may wish altogether to bypass this background, and Daniel’s lengthy essays in Section II, which may only prejudice the student’s query, and move studiously to Daniel’s analysis in Section III.

*     *     *

It appears that Brother Bayinhund was once selected for an assistantship while pursuing his graduate degree. Having obtained a fair grade point average in his bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in English, his apparent intellectual acuity, though now long time suspect, had come to the attention of one of his professors, Dr. Roy Bollings, a rather kind and fatherly type. A year or so later, this same professor had confronted Bayinhund with a question of whether or not he had pilfered or fabricated one of his papers. Sad this, in view of the basis by which Bayinhund had been selected in the first place as an assistant teacher. But then again, perhaps their judgment in that case was simply as cursory, with a greater reverse effect, for thinking themselves so taken in, as that which issued from his orals later. It appeared then that his graduate committee had apparently combined to rip him to shrewds unmercifully, as though debasement were a supportive companion to shallow judgment.

Apparently, in the case of presumed plagerism, the professor had told Bayinhund that the ideas therein were either couched in such intellectual terms that he had difficulty in following the train of thought, and was inclined to confirm his earlier appraisal of Daniel’s intellect, or that such conceptual language seemed too far beyond the scope of Bayinhund’s intellect to be his own. Not knowing whether to be pleased or offended, he had asked the professor what he meant, whereupon the latter had voiced his suspicions more clearly. So shocked and pondering was he with the clarity of the accusation, Daniel later wondered if his reaction of silence had been interpreted as a guilt reflex.

In the sudden face of it, Bayinhund, perhaps given to too much introspection, began to question himself also as to whether his method of analysis in his paper constituted a measure of piracy. In his defense, which intent seemed to have been the purpose for the autobiographical sketch, Bayinhund related that he had not denied the superficial accusation at the time because he was initially not sure what the professor was talking about, and then stunned when illuminated. It being elaborated, he, being a somewhat self-consulting person by nature, had tried to assimilate the accusation in terms of whether or not the process by which he had engineered the composition was indeed one that could have been not only suspect but dishonest. Albeit as honest and analytical as he was with himself, he likewise automatically assumed the esteemed professor to be as much or moreso, and felt instantaneous guilt when confronted with the suspicion of a superior mind.

Nevertheless, he knew that he had spent many hours analyzing the data he had researched, and could not see how the process could be considered a fabrication, since he had referenced his materials, documented them to his bibliography, and tried to use his own language in drawing his conclusions. Apparently, Bayinhund’s quiet reaction was the furtherest extent to which Prof. Rollings went in checking out his assumptions, which he may have spent upon other faculty, as later was evidenced by the tone of his graduate committee. Oh the evil that makes men suspect the minds of others, seemingly runs in many directions.

Perhaps his natural shyness, Bayinhund related, as much as his reluctance to refute the accusation—which refutation thereof might implicate the professor in a lie—was the reason this defense was never spoken to Dr. Bollings at the time; and thus his silence may have been construed as an admission. Bayinhund wondered if the suspicion was then allowed to ferment among the staff, without any of them taking the time to check out the bibliographical references to his paper.

Nonetheless, the fair-minded might ask, why should they have bothered to confirm or discount their suspicion? If professors, many of whom must either publish or perish, did not place a high premium upon their time, the halls of higher education might tumble upon the heads of far worthier students, for whom no such suspicions could be raised. Surely, on the scales of unquestionable justice, perhaps a little more to the left than to the right, the undiminished advance of the many justifies the unfortunate plight of the few.

As it stands, Bayinhund reported that it was not until he went before his committee later, in regard to his graduate research, that this fermentation seemed to climax in an attack upon his integrity and competence as a graduate student. Admitting being naive and trusting, he thought at first that the hostility of the committee was par for the course, as an adversarial design to test his confidence in and knowledge of his thesis. Yet it had been far more invective than he thought was necessary, and for which he was not prepared, and was stunned again into doubting his own worthiness, possibly as a further reflection of having been held highly suspect before.

In all fairness to this collection of noble judges, however, Bayinhund, prior to the oral examination, admitted having made a terrible, careless mistake in processing his research, the extent of which he was not fully aware until facing his graduate committee. In selecting the chairman of his committee, Dr. Hayes Allright, who was advantageously on sabbatical, or some other kind of leave, during the orals, Bayinhund unknowingly had picked one of the professors perhaps not as very knowledgeable in thesis writing as others, or so the committee openly implied, and had relied upon him to guide the process. In so doing, Bayinhund, in equal ignorance of the procedures, had never submitted a proposal to the chairman of the department for approval before beginning the collection of data. Alas, the chairman, familiar only with statistical designs, had never approved the use, in his department, of the experimental design Bayinhund had chosen, and thus would not accept his thesis.

Apparently, the better partner of the scientific method, known and utilized in other fields, had not climbed so high in this particular domain. Moreover, the findings of Daniel’s thesis had established a question mark about the validity of certain courses offered in the curriculum, itself reason enough to discredit his long-labored study. That the chairman had not approved the design of the research, as a valid method to be used by his department, and thence had rejected his thesis, was also accorded an embarrassing throwback to the department as well, for the oversight had likely prejudiced the chairman’s later acceptance of the design for use in other students’ theses. This oversight, noted by the irate thesis committee members, coupled with a particular eye of suspicion likely already fixed among the staff—which should have been voiced among them, but was not—Bayinhund adduced, was apparently the primary foundation for the hostility of his committee, and his ensuing decapitation. Had the suspicion been voiced by his committee, howbeit such might admit collusion on their part, this issue might have been resolved, good feelings accorded, and Bayinhund, to both our good fortunes, would probably have had no need for a post hoc editor.

Due to other technicalities, perhaps stemming from the same misunderstanding, to make his long defense short, Bayinhund lost his status as graduate student, was not allowed to be reinstated, and apparently faded away into oblivion, from which post mortem state his editor herein now feels bound to attempt a resurrection of his honor.

As I said, Bayinhund’s defense, presumably never submitted to his committee, may have no connection whatsoever with his slaughtered manuscript, which, to keep faith with myself, I present here, with several modifications. Just as I have ventured to keep myself far removed from Daniel’s dilemma, neither, as far as I can rationally examine my own motives, does his argument seem to have anything to do with the publication of his analysis herein. They appear as things apart, and to have no direct connection whatsoever.

I have tried to locate from among the untouchable recesses of my soul, without too much success, the reasoning behind that force compelling me to bring into the light the peculiar and perhaps original thoughts contained in Bayinhund’s red-smeared analysis. Whether it be by intuition or insanity, if they can be adduced as things apart, I will have to leave to the judgment of the apprehensive reader, who hopefully will perhaps give Bayinhund’s work less a cursory review than his committee members gave him. Any more intensive study might reveal details that may return to haunt me.

To my best recollection, such was the substance of Daniel’s defense in the undoctored document. The contents of the other, which had apparently been subjected to some other refuse, looked as if drops of blood had streaked down some of its pages, and gave the package the appearance of bleeding under the piercing thrusts of the professor’s scalpel. These contents constitute in summary form, the essays of Section II, without so much as one thorn to pierce the departed forehead of Brer Daniel.

Needless to say, nevertheless, his analysis should become accustomed to the cutting edge of critical thinkers. Such is accorded the nature and intent of constructive criticism. It is like unto the skills of the adept surgeon, whose purpose is to heal and cure by cutting away that which he considers adversarial to health, such as an unwanted appendix or a set of tonsils, which, though the Creator deemed otherwise, are often disposed of for lack of evidence to the contrary. All in all, it is only for one’s good, whether the criticism is sought for or needed, or even helpful. Moreover, it is expected that such a worthy become a most gracious recipient, with condescending gratitude, for any diminution of worth that may be granted by a more elevated mind. Such subjects should only nod in acquiescence and account themselves multiply blessed by the measure of time and ink spent in such an exudation.

Yet it was not the professor’s commentary, nor the blood-streaked appearance of the document, nor its defensive companion, nor any combination thereof, that stood up and confessed responsibility for prompting my impulsive nature to attempt a restoration of Bayinhund’s dignity. The culprit lay within the contents of his bleeding handiwork itself, and it was not until I had thoroughly digested them that I understood myself. I knew it had taken many hours of Bayinhund’s scholarly time to extract, if not indeed to conjure up, the meanings of Hawthorne’s dark and gloomy mystery; and it required of me, it seemed, no less time to fathom the significance of his ideas.

Perhaps the whole episode, from the moments of my midnight vigils to the printing of Bayinhund’s divination, evidences the value of blind intuition, and should therefore be subject to the graciousness of the expert’s logical scapel. The reader, just as did the publisher, will have to judge the quality of that value, either by subjecting it to the limitations of reason or, going beyond, allowing intuition likewise to take command of his senses.

Howbeit, fare thee well; I present all portions of Bayinhund’s analysis, even those parts the professor may have slighted with acute justification, as best as my memory can serve me. Within the last few years or so, though Mr. Who would occasionally prompt my review of his work, which reviews may fairly account for my memory thereof, I have either lost track of where I stored its remains, or some unsympathetic part of my mind has dispatched it to a resting place deemed more suitable. Or perhaps, in some vengeful abandon, I may myself have tossed it to get rid of the baggage, at the unmitigated nagging of Mr. Who, and assigned it to a permanent grave at some dump on the outskirts of Hawthornian civilization. If like minds are inclined to wallow in the same mire, it may yet be that some enterprising and malnourished person, under the same circumstance and delusion, and not too little like Bayinhund himself, might someday venture to salvage its decaying soul, and thereby vouchsafe the authenticity of my edition, however unlikely the fare.

In no sense or fashion have I thought to include any portions of the professor’s red commentary, merely the substance thereof; but true to form, instead, I have allowed my publisher plenty of room to vent his benevolent nature, whether to aid in the reader’s digestion of its contents, or to carry out his own purgings thereof. I have urged him likewise to leave sufficient margins on each printed page for students and readers alike to join in the scholarly fray. Who knows but what scribblings may be fodder ad infinitum for other natural’s discontent, whose own green and refreshing new ideas may need airing also, like all squeaky wheels in want of lubrication.

Bayinhund had entitled his paper, "The Nazarene of The Scarlet Letter," which approximates the subtitle his editor has given his book, in all due respect to Mr. Who’s warning. No credit need be accorded the editor for his ideas, nor, dare I say, any blame, for all that comes to the reader is entirely a carbon copy of Bayinhund’s analysis, with but a few palatable improvisations; and all responsibility should be laid squarely at his feet. My part is simply that which I am driven to do because of a moment of insanity, in the middle of a mindless night, and in the throes of some inexplicable notion to reverence Brother Bayinhund’s pain, despite my opinion on the whole matter. His shame, symbolized so cryptically by the letter C, which he had embellished with such elaborate design upon his ill-begotten script, seems to burn still within me, as though some enigmatic kinship was formed years ago with some intractable part of myself.

The one frightening weakness, if we can call it so, in Bayinhund’s fervid analysis, seems to be his audacity to think the bard’s tale an allegory depicting Deity’s relationship with humankind by identifying one particular character in Hawthorne’s tale with a particular historical hero of the Christian faith, in absolute disagreement with more credible earlier critics. Be it as it may, I have innocently done my duty to Mr. Daniel Knotta Bayinhund, and faithfully have performed the office which Mr. Who has this long time exacted of me. If Bayinhund can posthumously only receive due credit, or, ironically, a second and widespread condemnation, then I would prefer Mr. Who be brought before the bar instead of any other. As a passive observer, not fully in accord with my own judgment in this matter, I disclaim any belief in the following ideas that may be associated with Daniel Bayinhund’s creativity, and am only party thereto as a pale ghostwriter attempting to transfuse a corpse with a little more life blood of dignity than probably accorded justly heretofore.

Bayinhund’s conclusions are fairly strong, but their chief weakness lies in their redundancy because of the various themes he has bundled together from the numerous tie-ins in Hawthorne’s tale. He also appears at times to have exercised too much restaint in voicing them, as though his convictions might be offensive to others, or as though fidelity to his experience of Hawthorne, or his own religious views, needed an apology. On the other hand, such tentativeness might be considered only a contrary to dogmatism.

Although I have taken the liberty of dividing his composition into sections more suitable for publication, as a text for younger and brighter students to study, as was likely his intentions, I begin with Bayinhund’s own preface and introduction to his analysis. To further sway the tide of plagerism, I must confess that the title given his handiwork is my own, for the one he had chosen might be considered too bold and too heretical, of its own accord, to be worthy of the greater audience Hawthorne saught. I admit to toning it down a little, to focus more on the redemption of the man himself; but the reader must feel free to assume, by logic or intuition, what is the true substance of the matter at hand.

I have also taken another liberty of guessing what Biblical text, or other similar thought, may have fancied Bayinhund’s imagination of what he thought might have prompted Hawthorne’s. Each quote might possibly frame the primary theme and general focus of each chapter; and placing it at the beginning, much as I have placed a quote of Hawthorne’s at the head of this analysis, openly suggests what might have been the motive behind the veiling of his allegory in a mystery. The editor admits that the quotes may be his own fanciful imagination of Daniel’s, and would like to marginalize the religious tones thereof, for the sake of our literary critics, who may have some reservations about Hawthorne’s novel being considered a religious allegory. Out of respect for such reservations, he therefore has included a list of references to such quotes in an appendix, for those who may be unfamiliar with them. This is not to say, however, that, for the sake of avoiding offence to others whose sensitivities may reside at the other end of the continuum, that he likewise discredits the merits thereof by doing so. Those whose prejudices dwell in the middle may feel more at home as they peruse these pages.

Section I

Section I contains Bayinhund’s own preface and introduction to his analysis, which is essayed in Section II. Both have been written in the first person, as though they were his own words, first, to disassociate the editor from the originality of his analysis, and, second, to distance him from the critics, who surely will make easy fodder of his text, like a hound gone beserk on a prized bird he was meant only to retrieve. At the same time, he gives these bird dogs advance notice that, in the absence of Bayinhund’s manuscript, the style and language of the text could therefore resemble no other than but mine own. To advance the proposition that the use of the personal pronoun, or the similarity in style and language, suggests any agreement on the part of the editor with the author’s speculations, may be as absurd as assuming Hawthorne’s complicity with Surveyor Pue of the Custom House in originating the history of the tale itself.

The Preface postures a defense for his claim to have advanced a unique and definitive analysis of Hawthorne’s novel. The Introduction prates about various aspects of The Scarlet Letter, its relevance to Hawthorne’s time and ours, and examines a few of the criticisms leveled against it. Unlike the editor’s preceding foreplay, Bayinhund’s words themselves are recorded as best as he can remember them, and are substantially free of any commentary by his editor so that the reader may have no reason to confuse the two.

Perhaps a few suggestions to readers as to how to evaluate his analysis are in order. Students might choose to enjoy reading Hawthorne’s novel through as least once before conducting a detailed study of it concurrently with Hawthorne’s Redemption. Be they friend or foe, some may consider this one-time perusal a sufficient effort to probe the mind of one of the most respected and intelligent authors in America. However they equate their affinity with him, each should savor the richness of the mystery before examining the clues to its hidden allegorical meanings. The editor recommends a quick reading of Sections I and II before the more detailed parallel study of Section III, which analyzes each chapter of the novel. A cursory perusal of Sections I and II may prevent the reader from becoming embedded in any predisposition that might impede a more objective analysis of Bayinhund’s interpretations of each chapter’s contents in Section III. Section III’s detailed contents serve only to vindicate or support the premises summarized in the previous sections, and perhaps should be examined upon their own merits.

Since the editor has undertaken to advance a dead brother’s interpretation of Hawthorne’s allegory that seems Christian in content, he has deemed it necessary to refer to the records of that faith, notably, the Kings James Version of the Holy Bible, at the beginning of most chapters, to elaborate on the possible allegorical theme focused therein. It is most fitting also on the bases that this version of sacred writ came to us at the hands of the Puritans; Hawthorne’s own references to King James in his novel makes the selection of that Biblical text most appropriate; and the metaphorical contents of its language parallels the mystic subtlety of his own unique style. Quotations from Hawthorne’s tale itself have been referenced to the Centenary edition by page only, which edition was not published at the time the editor discovered Mr. Bayinhund’s text.

It is not likely that this literary license would be objectionable to Mr. Bayinhund; but should he rise from the ignominity of his academic demise to claim entitlement to this edition, his editor will take up the matter quite equitably with him then. At the present, there is not much better counsel available to him. Yet, were Daniel to emerge at any time and tell him differently, he might be most inclined to make a few changes. He might be hard pressed otherwise to consider any other request.

It is hoped that these liberties that have been taken with Bayinhund’s text might accord with the spirit of his intended enterprise, be it what it may, just as he possibly hoped his interpretation of the tale was in accord with Hawthorne’s intended purpose. Were Daniel’s real ghost to appear at some future time, he would be no less frightening to this purveyor than was Hawthorne’s reactions to the sagacious promptings of the ghost of Surveyor Pue.

Preface

In the beginning, I debated seriously what I should entitle my experience. Considering the times, it would have been perhaps more palatable had I called it, Hawthorne’s Mystery Unveiled, or Hawthorne Rediscovered. It would have probably sparked more controversial interest had I named it Heresy in The Scarlet Letter, but to have done so would have been an injustice to the man. At the same time, to have labeled it, The Christ of the Scarlet Letter might be too bold an insult to both scholar and layman, who may have already formed fixed opinions on an otherwise abstruse mystery. And should I have ventured to entitle it Hawthorne: Mind in Matter, I am afraid I would have defeated one of its primary objectives and affrighted its intended public, for who in his right mind in these days relishes a probe into deep philosophy, even though that philosophy might be hidden within the mind of such a deep thinker as Hawthorne?

But similar to the machinery of an allegory, as I began to sense what Hawthorne was trying to communicate to fairly close friends, in full respect and admiration for Hawthowrne, I was compelled to label it simply as I have, and leave it to the reader to judge whether or not this layman wrote to the appeal of the layman. For having perceived of Hawthorne delicate qualities in his work—sensitivity, compassion, intelligence, introspection, intuition, and a penetrative inquisitiveness—below all that, if not the sum bonum and base, I also saw him as deeply religious, yet not in any formal expression, but in a most personal and private way, intent on reverencing his Maker, possibly even as a Christian apologist.

It has come to be the essential intent of this work to do that which I perceive might have been, if not the central purpose of Hawthorne’s novel, at least a strong motivating factor behind his autographical impulse. Perhaps at this late date, it would cause him little injury to invade his privacy by revealing, in the singular experience of this student, the inmost Me behind its veil. Indeed, in seeking to unravel the mystery, it is his uppermost desire to honor him, if no more than to raise the eyes of his descendants once more to the grand old scribbler, as he may have secretly wished.

It may be, however,—O transporting and triumphant thought!—that the great-grandchildrren of the present race may sometimes think kindly of the scribbler of bygone days, when the antiquary of days to come, among the sites memorable in the town’s history, shall point out the locality of THE TOWN-PUMP! (45)

Let me be, if forever nothing else, witness to the fact that he was more than a writer of story books! His masterpiece should be compared to Milton’s Paradise Lost, for some of Milton might be in it. And one may sense, inside the pages of his novel, that he may have gazed upon the Creation scene by Michaelangelo, or heard a few notes from Handel’s Messiah, for the Nazarene haunts it. Like any work of art, it can be enjoyed mostly, if not only, by intuition and imagination, the one key that may unlock its meanings, though perhaps differently for each of its beneficiaries.

Perhaps the reader should begin this unveiling with the idea of a mystery that has captivated a wide audience, as seemingly was one of his objectives, then allow intuition to balance rationality in approaching the veil to find out the divided segment of the writer’s own nature. The mystery seems designed to intrigue a community of readers, even though Hawthorne’s inmost self may have been meant to be disclosed only and exclusively, to the one heart and mind of perfect sympathy (3). To discover Hawthorne’s inmost self, the reader may have to suspend all judgments and prejudices and allow his imagination to lead the way.

I admit that The Scarlet Letter has been an extraordinary obsession to me. From my first reading I was determined to analyze the symbols until I could understand their connections and relevancies. Without realizing it at the time, I had taken Hawthorne to task:

there are few things,—whether in the outward world, or to a certain depth, in the invisible sphere of thought,—few things hidden from the man, who devotes himself earnestly and unreservedly to the solution of a mystery" (75).

It became a quest I could not shake. As I studied the novel intently, I was puzzled by many passages that I knew had some hidden meanings; but nothing made sense, until intuition, call it what we may, envisioned and focused upon Dimmesdale on the scaffold as an historical figure of eminent stature. But the mind cried, How could that be if he were involved in, what was seemingly, a scandalous affair with Hester?

Exhausting all other possibilities, in order to probe deeper into what their relationship might mean at a deeper level, I finally resolved to restrain my Puritan impulses. Like a stone cast into water, from that point in the center outward, I was compelled to elude every quasi-Puritanical premise in search for an explanation that would unify every image