Wakefield by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Chloe is reading and we are discussing Wakefield by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, (1804-1864), ranks among America’s major authors. Between about 1825 and 1850, he developed his talent by writing short fiction and the novel Fanshawe (1828). Then he gained international fame for his novel The Scarlett Letter (1850). Here is an extensive list of his works.
If you are unfamiliar with this short story you can read the full text here.
In Wakefield, Nathaniel Hawthorne takes a true story that he read once in a newspaper or magazine about a man who leaves his wife for 20 years but lives, all that time, only a block away from her. The man observed his wife often, and only returned after his affairs had been settled and memory of him had passed. He simply returned home, resumed life, and served as a faithful husband for the rest of their lives.
Here is a good summary of Wakefield
An interesting analysis of Wakefield
To Chloe and I it was completely outlandish how this story plays out. As a wife I cannot imagine my husband returning 20 years after he disappears and just taking right back in to normal life as though he was never gone. Even if he had not deliberately left and stowed himself away on a nearby street, it would be difficult because life would have continued on. At some point you have to move beyond, putting one foot in front of the other and at some point you realize that life has gone on and you have move on.
This story reminded me of the movie Cast Away starring Tom Hanks, the major difference being that the character in Cast Away, Chuck, does not deliberately leave his family. But his experience upon returning home to his wife was more realistic in my opinion. Upon returning to civilization (after 4/5 years), Chuck must come to terms with the fact that he has long been given up for dead; his family and friends held a funeral, and Kelly (his wife) has since married Chuck’s dentist and has a daughter. During a clandestine reunion with Kelly, the pair impulsively profess their love for each other but soon realize a future together would be impossible.
This story made for interesting discussion with Chloe. Does it make a difference why the husband was gone? What did he learn from being gone? If his wife had not taken him back would it have all been worth it? How would you feel if you were the wife who was left behind?
February 18, 2013 @ 9:05 am
Good morning!
Love this, love this!
so helpful to me…my son is 12 and I will def be using your info/summary here….we spend much time discussing deeply classics and quality lit and English major that I am ( sometimes I feel fraudluelnt given how much I do NOT know!!) I have never read Wakefield, altho we DID visit Hawthorne’s home while in MA two summers ago! 🙂
I found you on the NOBH site. I joined NOHB a while ago and have been sharing a few posts in several categories, but have not gotten to fully visit each of the NOBH hosts……I wish there were more hours in the day!
I look fwd to your posts and to getting to know you thru the blogosphere.
Thanks so much…I’ll be signing up to follow your blog so I don’t miss anything.:)
Have a wonderful day
~Chris
February 18, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
HI,
New follower via GFC from NOBH. Thanks for hosting! Blessings! Sandra http://www.ourchangingnestnowwhat.blogspot.com
I love Hawthorne. One of my favorite short stories is The MInister’s Black Veil. Lot’s of themes to discuss.
February 18, 2013 @ 1:45 pm
Good morning to you too Chris!
Thank you for stopping in and checking out my blog! I love NOBH for the opportunity to visit many blogs of similar genre that might be of interest to you. I had never read Wakefield myself and probably wouldn’t have were it not for the fact that my daughter was struggling to find meaning in it. So I read it aloud to her and we discussed it at length along with finding a few things on the Internet that were so helpful. I like to collect things we find useful and post them on my blog. It is not only a great reference for me, but in turn it might help someone else!
~Heidi
February 18, 2013 @ 1:47 pm
Hi Sandra! Thanks for stopping in. Thanks for your recommendation, I will have to check out The Minister’s Black Veil.
~Heidi
March 3, 2013 @ 8:56 am
Hi! I found you through NOBH, and am now following your blog. I love Hawthorne, and your comparison to Cast Away is spot on. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to be put in that situation. I love the history in Salem, Mass., and hope to see Hawthorne’s home someday, as well as The House of the Seven Gables. Have a great day!
March 3, 2013 @ 10:44 am
Hi Shandy! Thanks for stopping in. I had never read Wakefield but enjoyed it immensely.
Why were Hawthorne’s works dark? | pterrell11's Blog
March 17, 2013 @ 11:33 pm
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