Biography of the Author, Nathaniel Hawthorne!!!

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. His family had been prominent in the area since colonial times. A rich lore of local history and family provided much of the material for Hawthorne's works. When Nathaniel was four, his father died on a voyage, but relatives recognized his literary talent and financed his education at Bowdoin College.
Hawthorne was extremely concerned with conventionality and publsihed his first short stories . Hawthorne later formally withdrew most of this early work, discounting it as the work of inexperienced youth. Hawthorne's fiancee Sophia Peabody drew him into the transcendentalist movement and in 1841 Hawthorne invested $1500 in the Brook Farm Utopian Community. His later works show some Transcendentalist influence, including a belief in individual choice and consequence, and an emphasis on symbolism.