Nathaniel Hawthorne was an eighteenth-century writer that lived in Salem, Oregon. He was a descendant of the judge, John Hathorne, of the Salem Witch Trials. These trials are said to have inspired his writing; in most of his books, there is a ruler that cruelly oppresses people. This is a depiction of John Hathorne and Nathaniel’s other ancestors, whom he outrightly denounces (Brooks). Many of Hawthorne’s works are based upon “the guilt that [he] felt over the actions of his ancestors” (Fider). Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family history greatly affects the themes and topics of his works, which is noted by many critics, especially in his works The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. In The Scarlet Letter, the reader sees evidence
