TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of choosing subject
B. Objective and scope of the study
C. Problem statement
D. Theoritical approach
E. Method of research
F. Presentation
CHAPTER II BACKGROUND OF INFORMATION
A. Biographical sketh of the author
B. Social and historical background
CHAPTER III ASPECT OF SYMBOLS IN THE HOUSE AND THE SEVEN GABLES
A. The meaning of each symbol
B. The clasification of each symbols
CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
CHAPTER I
INTRODUTION
A. Background of choosing subject
All of the literature form is a sign gives the character. The sign has sender. Basically, it can be called that the sender is the writer. Therefore, the character is to be text form. Then it forms a grammatical which has meaning in the text form. Text is a sign which has been built by the symbol can be known universally.
One of the most symbols is sign of language. Then the function of the language sign is giving a symbol which has meaning. Sometimes the meaning of symbol is easier to know but sometimes also the meaning of symbol is the more difficult to know. In other words, the sign can be object, character, figures, colour. For example house, school, office, and also white, red, and yellow colour. Every symbol has different meaning but it depens on the individual how to understand about the symbol context.
In this paper, I choose to analyse the symbol of “The House and The Seven Gables” novel by Nathaniel howthorne. Because the writer (Nathaniel Howthorne) uses many symbol in his creature. For instance in scarlet letter, twice-told tale novel, the house and the seven gables. However it is attractive to explain the meaning of symbol in novel “House and The Seven Gables”. Because one symbol can make many interpretation.
B. Objective and scope of the study
In this research is going to analyse the symbol of The House and The Seven Gables. The writer would like to propose the meaning of the symbol. In this case, the symbol in this novel can be known what the direction is.
C. Problem statement
Based on the previous explanation, the writer formulates the problem as follow:
1. How many kinds of symbol it uses in the novel “House and The Seven Gables”?
2. What is the meaning of symbol in the novel “House and The Seven Gables”?
D. Theoritical approach
This research uses semiotical approach to analyse about identity the signs. Because there were some signs can be found in this novel. This approach was applied in the novel of the house and the seven gables because there are many symbols should be analysed and identificated.
E. The method of the research
The method of this research is library research utilizing several documents suitable with the topic. Some informations from the related with the topic and sources are data from internet that support and have relevance with the topic.
F. Presentation
This presentation is divided into four chapter. Chapter one is the introduction. Consisting of background of choosing the subject, objective and scope the study, problem statement, theoritical approach, method of research. Chapter two briefly explain the biograpical sketch of the author and social and historical background. The next chapter is chapter three which analyse and clasificate the meaning of each symbol. The last chapter is chapter four that conclude the analysis.
CHAPTER II
BACKGROUN INFORMATION
A. Biograpical sketch of the author
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials. Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne". He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children. (en.wikipedia.org)
Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. (en.wikipedia.org)
B. Social and historical background
Ana rosida[1] explained that Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most prolific symbolists in american literature, and a study of his symbols is necessary to understanding his novels. A symbol is something used to stand for something else. In literature, a symbol is the most often concrete object used to represent an idea, and it has more abstract broader scope and meaning-often a moral, religus, or philosopical concept or value. Symbol can range from the most obvious subtitution of one thing for another, to create as massive, compex, and perplexing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables is, as the author notes in a short preface to the novel, a romance. The story thus, as Hawthorne states, includes fantastical occurrences, improbabilities, and attempts to connect the past with the present, sacrificing literal authenticity for more abstract truths. The connection between the past and the present is the most pressing of Hawthorne's concerns in The House of the Seven Gables, which begins with the checkered history of the eponymous house. The house was constructed during the Puritan era in New England by the prominent Colonel Pyncheon.(www. Bps.org)
Symbol is synonim of sign because symbol is one of the most overburdened terms in the field of the humanities and broadest sense. To make us understand about symbol, we can see lyons opinions below that is symbol rests upon the conventionality or arbitrariness of the relationship between the sign and its signification.
However, as symbolic system, the language is entirely limited. Not all things can be precisely named, in other words, there are many things cannot be talked. Therefore, people need a symbol to express something that means more than what lies on reality. Therefore, a symbol refers to anything(character, place, gesture, object, ect.) that suggest a meaning or many meanings over, which is beyond itself.(Ana Rosida: 2004)
CHAPTER III
ASPECT OF SYMBOLS IN THE HOUSE AND THE SEVEN GABLES
The House of the Seven Gables once a "show place" in a small New England town, now presents little evidence of its former grandeur. Wind, sun, storm, and neglect left its sides, shingles, and chimney crumbling. Its gray look is mottled here and there with moss. The lattice fence surrounding it is in ruin. The lawn in front, and what must have been a spacious garden at the rear, long since have missed the care of the cultivator's hand. There in front, to the right of the imposing entrance, is a small door adjacent to a window of what obviously was once a shop.
The house reflects the unfortunate circumstances under which it was built some 160 years before by Colonel Pyncheon, one of the early Puritan settlers on the bleak New England coast. (www.shmoop.com)
A. The meaning of each symbol
a. The house and the seven gables
Obviously, the biggest symbol in this novel is the House of the Seven Gables itself. Hawthorne helps us out with this one by putting it right there in the title! The house represents a ton of things: first, it stands in for the Pyncheon family as a whole. The reason Colonel Pyncheon accuses Matthew Maule of witchcraft is so that he can build a large, fine house as a legacy to his family. But Colonel Pyncheon also curses both house and family by building the house on the foundations of Maule's hut. How can the Pyncheon family flourish when it's literally rooted in the legacy of a murdered man?
The house's condition also tells us something about the state of the Pyncheon family through the years. When Colonel Pyncheon builds the house, it's luxurious and constructed according to the latest fashion. Even in the time of Mr. Holgrave's tale, the house has "that pleasant aspect of life which is like the cheery expression of comfortable activity in the human countenance" (13.12). In other words, the house looks lively and is bustling with a large family. In the time of the novel's present, in the 1850s, the House of the Seven Gables has grown ancient and dark. Similarly, the family has dwindled to a few scattered, warring members – Hepzibah, Clifford, Jaffrey, and Phoebe Pyncheon. The aging of the house reflects the aging (and diminishing) of the Pyncheon family itself.
The house's weathered, gloomy appearance also marks it as a symbol of past times. The portrait of Colonel Pyncheon reminds its inhabitants every day of the origins of the Pyncheon family. The house is filled with artifacts of days gone by: Colonel Pyncheon's chair, Alice Pyncheon's harpsichord, even the old shopkeeper's locked shop door. These relics accompany the literal ghosts of Pyncheons past. The shopkeeper of a hundred years earlier is supposed to float anxiously through his abandoned shop, and Alice Pyncheon can occasionally be heard playing her harpsichord. The night of Judge Pyncheon's death brings out a full procession of deceased Pyncheons. This house is both literally and metaphorically haunted by the past. Hepzibah and Clifford Pyncheon both respond to the House of the Seven Gables as a physical manifestation of their family's tortured past – not a very peaceful relationship to have with the place where you live.
Last but not least, the house's grim appearance sets the gloomy tone and Gothic genre for the whole novel. Its dark passageways and dim rooms give it a sense of unease. The lack of light seems only appropriate for a house as haunted as this one. (www.shmoop.com)
b. The portrait of colonel pyncheon
Of all symbols in the house and the seven gables, none is more prominent than the portatrait of the colonel, who watches generation of pyncheons fall prey to the same ambitions that brought him down. Judge pyncheon strogly resembles the portrait, our first indications that he too may be corrupt. Clifford recoils at the sight of the portrait, which may be read as evidence of his more honest, upstanding character. As gervayse pyncheon agrees to exchange the house for young matthew Maule’s help in finding the Maine land grant, he thinks he sees the portrait frown with disapporial, signaling, both the gervayse’s deal may not satisfy the pyncheon standards for greed and that something awful may be about occur. That the much-sought-after-deed is hidden behind the portrait is symbolic of the frustations that greed inevitably brings, as the ambitions of the pyncheon are indirectly stymied by portrait of their own ancestor. (www.shmoop.com)
c. The chickens
The pyncheon chickens are scraggly bunch, a clear symbol of the waning fortunes of the family that breeds them. Once the size of turkeys, the chickens have shrunk to regular size and now look weak. Their perseverance remains admirable, however. Like the garden and the fortunes of clifford and hepzibah, the chickens are also on the mend. Clifford’s declaration that the chickens shall be freed from their coop indicates the imprtance of freedom and release. The chicken seems like an odd bird for hawthorne to have selected to represent the pyncheon family, and his choice introduces a satirical touch to the novel. In using the chickens to symbolize the proud, aristocratic pyncheons, hawthorne has in effect denigrated them to a gaggle of constantly fighting, squawking birds. (www.shmoop.com)
d. Maule’s well
One of the reasons Colonel Pyncheon chooses this particular acre to steal from his neighbor, Matthew Maule, is that there is a spring of fresh water on the property. But as soon as Colonel Pyncheon starts to build his new house, the spring suddenly becomes polluted. This seems to be a sign that the house is cursed.
Maule's Well also symbolizes the persistence of Matthew Maule's memory in the Pyncheon family. No matter how much they try to make the House of the Seven Gables their own, Matthew Maule is always bubbling up in the garden. After Judge Pyncheon dies in the same chair that Colonel Pyncheon passed away in so many years before, Maule's Well "[overflows] its stone border, and [makes] a pool of formidable breadth in that corner of the garden" (19.58). Perhaps Maule's Well is overflowing in celebration because Judge Pyncheon, like Colonel Pyncheon before him, has been given "blood to drink" (1.4).
When Clifford sits in the garden, he often looks into Maule's Well. He claims to be able to see "shapes of loveliness" in the water, which are now and then disturbed by "a dark face" (10.14). Phoebe believes these "shapes" to be the result of Clifford's imagination, with his cruel fate symbolized by "the dark face." But who knows – the novel ends with Maule's well sending up visions of the happy future of Phoebe and the rest of the surviving Pyncheons. Perhaps it does give us a glimpse into the past and future. After all, one of the Maule family's mystical abilities is supposed to be unusual clear-sightedness about dreams, visions, and the like.
One tiny, rather romantic note: when Mr. Holgrave plucks some of Alice's Posies from the roof he tells Uncle Venner, "I have heard [...] that the water of Maule's Well suits those flowers best" (19.12). We have discussed the ways in which Alice Pyncheon is linked to Phoebe in "Characters." And Mr. Holgrave is a descendant of Matthew Maule. So maybe this is a nice bit of foreshadowing of Phoebe and Mr. Holgrave's love: Phoebe is represented by Alice's Posies, and Mr. Holgrave is the water from Maule's Well. (www.sparknotes.com)
e. The train
If the House of the Seven Gables represents the past, stagnation, gloom, and rot, what is its opposite? Why, modern technology in the form of the train, of course! The train is gleaming, new, and filled with people constantly exiting and entering. While you can only glimpse people through the arched window at the head of the stairs in the House of the Seven Gables, you can't avoid others on the train: "It was life itself!" (17.11). The train becomes a symbol of Clifford's freedom from Judge Pyncheon's oppression. Instead of being stuck in one place, like the house, it's constantly moving. But even though Clifford enjoys his brief travels on the train with Hepzibah, he admits that he can't keep up this progress forever. Even if homes do come with burdens attached to them, we are not made to never stop. Clifford and Hepzibah go back to the House of the Seven Gables – but they find their lives permanently changed for the better once they get there. (www.sparknotes.com)
B. The clasification of each symbol
The symbol that found in this novel will clasify into Gill richard’s theory[2], it is two clasification that are:
1. Traditional symbol
Most symbols are traditional, the more you read (and talk to readers of poetry) the more you will become acquainted with how words function symbolically. For instance: there are many symbol of death, sunset, and many associated with what lies beyond death, such as a river reaching the sea or making a journey from which there is no return. Other frequently-used symbols are flower for the shortness of life, birds for the soul, a garden for perfect order, the sky for heaven and a tree for the whole created order of nature. Those are just a few. As you read and discuss literature, you will become aware of how authors give a symbolic life t many of their life. (Ana rosida: 2004)
2. New symbol
In some cases, a poet makes new symbols. For yeats the ancient city of byzantium was a symbol of the perfect blending or the arts of living and visual arts. In irish poet, seamus heaney, has found in the mummified remains of ancient people discovered in bogs a symbol of the tribal passions that are present in the ireland. (Ana rosida: 2004)
Therefore, based on its theory that”the house” in the novel ”The House and The Seven Gables” includes in new symbol because its symbol shows the natural and art. Then the portrait of colonel pyncheon traditional symbol which is symbolic the portrait is symbolic of the frustations that greed inevitably brings, as the ambitions of the pyncheon are indirectly stymied by portrait of their own ancestor. Next the chicken just come to traditional symbol because the chicken is a clear symbol of the waning fortunes of the family that breeds them. And then Maule’s well also traditional symbol which is symbolic the persistence of Matthew Maule's memory in the Pyncheon family. Finally, the train is also traditional symbol and new symbol because the train becomes a symbol of Cliffords freedom from Judge Pyncheons oppression.
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
In conclude, Nathaniel Hawthorne is writer on New England. Many works featuring moral allegories with a puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. (en.wikipedia.org) Therefore, in this research the writer showed the smbol of the house and the seven gables. The symbols are the house itself, the potrait of colonel pyncheon, the chickens, maule’s well, and the train. In this case, the symbol can be categorized in traditional symbol and new symbol. Furthemore, in this novel talk about greed for having something which is not theirs. So this novel gives a moral message that get yours and don’t ever get theirs if not yours. We earn that we eat, get that we war, owe no man hate envy no man’s happines, glad of other men’s good, content with harm.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rosida, ana. 2004. Analysis of symbol “Scarlet Letter”novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. UIN Alauddin: Makassar.
Gill, Mastering English Literature Second Edition, (New York: Palgrave, 1995)
APPENDIX
The House of the Seven Gables once a "show place" in a small New England town, now presents little evidence of its former grandeur. Wind, sun, storm, and neglect left its sides, shingles, and chimney crumbling. Its gray look is mottled here and there with moss. The lattice fence surrounding it is in ruin. The lawn in front, and what must have been a spacious garden at the rear, long since have missed the care of the cultivator's hand. There in front, to the right of the imposing entrance, is a small door adjacent to a window of what obviously was once a shop. The house reflects the unfortunate circumstances under which it was built some 160 years before by Colonel Pyncheon, one of the early Puritan settlers on the bleak New England coast. The site upon which the house stood originally belonged to a man of poor circumstances named Matthew Maule. In the center of the site was a wonderful spring of sweet flowing water. Colonel Pyncheon would build his mansion on no other site. To obtain it he was instrumental in Matthew Maule's being charged with witchcraft, for which Maule was hanged. On the gallows, Maule cried out that the Pyncheons would forever be cursed. No sooner had the cruel and grasping Colonel Pyncheon completed his beautiful and imposing House of the Seven Gables than he died of a strange death on the very day the townspeople had been invited to its opening. The curse of Matthew Maule, some said, persists in plaguing the old house and its inhabitants. Now over a century and a half later, the sole family member inhabiting the old place is Hepzibah Pyncheon, an aging old maid. There is also a Mr. Holgrave, a daguerreotypist and artist, who rents upstairs apartments. Hepzibah and Clifford flee to the railroad station and board a train just ready to leave. Impulsively, Clifford and Hepzibah later leave the train at a deserted railway station many miles from the House of the Seven Gables. Phoebe returns to the old mansion, now strangely silent, and locked shut. Holgrave admits her and informs her of the Judge's strange death. He begs Phoebe to give him a moment more before she calls the sheriff. He recalls the many pleasant hours they spent in the garden on her first visit, when he confessed his love for her. She confesses she is in love with him. At that moment, Clifford and Hepzibah return. Subsequently the Judge's wealth is inherited by Phoebe, Clifford, and Hepzibah. Examination of the Judge's past suggests that he knew the circumstances of his rich uncle's death, and that he was responsible for Clifford's being imprisoned for the uncle's murder. Phoebe and Holgrave, who now confesses he was the last descendant of Matthew Maule, are pledged to be wed. With some regret, but with greater joy, they pack their belongings and go to the Judge's country place. The old house is left to its sad and tragic memories. (www.shmoop.com)
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