Treasure Hunt in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Peter Goldthwaite’s Treasure”
Keywords:
Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Dream, symbolism, literature, PuritanismAbstract
This article analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Peter Goldthwaite’s Treasure,” examining its portrayal of the American Dream as a complex and often tragic experience. The paper explores how Hawthorne’s Puritan and Calvinist worldview shapes his vision of the American Dream, emphasizing the inherent sinfulness of mankind and the impossibility of an innocent pursuit of wealth. The article argues that Peter Goldthwaite’s compulsive quest for treasure symbolizes the destructive nature of greed within capitalist society. By contrasting Hawthorne’s gloomy perspective with the optimistic ‘Party of Hope’ embodied by figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson, this study highlights the tension between hope and despair in the American Dream. The author contends that Peter’s isolation and eventual ostracism serve as a critique of the self-sufficiency idealized by traditional American Dreamers. This work investigates how Hawthorne uses repetition and historical continuity to underscore the unchangeable nature of human folly, ultimately demonstrating the tragic consequences of chasing illusory dreams.
(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
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