43 pages • 1 hour read
Nathaniel HawthorneMy Kinsman Major Molineux
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1831A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Complicating the Colonial Patriot Narrative
In the introductory paragraph, Hawthorne states: “The reader, in order to avoid a long and dry detail of colonial affairs, is requested to dispense with an account of the train of circumstances, that had caused much temporary inflammation of the popular mind” (1). Before commencing the story’s action, the author wants the reader to disregard common narratives that uncritically portray colonists as heroic, God-fearing patriots.
As the story progresses, we see many instances in which colonists’ behavior is depicted as rude, sinful, or barbarous. The first example occurs when the old man threatens Robin with being “acquainted with the stocks” (3). Soon thereafter, the innkeeper insults Robin. These men are colonists who later attend the procession and revel in the torture of Molineux. The author depicts them as being more interested in reveling in depravity than helping a fellow countryman who is new to the city.
The horned man leads the procession. Though he is a colonist fighting against British rule, he sadistically exhibits the elderly Major Molineux, who has been tarred and feathered. Through this barbaric conduct, the author suggests that colonial patriots are not uniformly moral people. Rather, they are fully capable of displaying the tyrannical and ungodly behavior that they have united to fight against.
Naiveté vs. Self-Awareness
18-year-old Robin, who is in unfamiliar surroundings, often comes across as naive. Through his naivete, he sometimes lacks self-awareness. In recurring instances, Robin expects to be treated respectfully because of his relation to Molineux. The first example occurs shortly after he steps off the ferry, when he asks the old man to direct him to his kinsman. After the old man treats him disrespectfully, Robin assumes that he must be someone “who has never seen the inside of my kinsman’s door” (3). A similar occurrence then transpires at the inn, where he supposes that there is an “eagerness of each individual to become his guide” (5).
As Robin grows increasingly frustrated, he sits alone and wonders who he is. This identity crisis sets the stage for his transformation during the procession. When he sees Molineux being publicly shamed, he gains awareness about his kinsman’s true status in the community, and thus his own standing in relation to him. At this point, Robin sheds naivete and attains greater self-awareness, which shows that he is maturing. In the story’s closing paragraph, it is through this self-awareness that Robin appears able to “rise in the world, without the help of [his] kinsman, Major Molineux” (16).
Light vs. Dark
Throughout the story, light and dark are used to represent good and evil. Robin arrives in the city “near nine o’clock of a moonlight evening” (1). It is not a coincidence that Robin arrives after darkness has descended upon Boston. As the story progresses, we see that the city, as opposed to Robin’s country home, is rife with sin. The darkness of nightfall is symbolic of this ungodly behavior.
In his search for Molineux, Robin navigates darkened streets. When he is nearly drawn inside for an encounter with a prostitute, it is the neighborhood lantern-bearer who halts the interaction. Robin continues through dim streets, where “lights are extinguished in almost every house,” and feels like a spell has been cast upon him.
Out on the street, Robin sees the horned man, whose face is painted half black and half red. The black represents the darkness of death and makes the horned man appear as a type of Grim Reaper.
Robin eventually rests on a church’s steps. In the moonlight, he looks through a window and sees that “one solitary ray had dared to rest upon the opened page of the great Bible” (10). Here, we see an obvious connection between light and godliness. In a sin-filled city, the moonbeam and Bible appear as omens encouraging Robin to go to the light.
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By Nathaniel Hawthorne
