Nobles and Savages

Since its publication the conclusion of The House ofthe Seven Gables has been criticized as eitherinconsistent with the rest of the novel or a failure. After analyzing this novel along with Hawthorne'sother major works it becomes clear that there is infact consistency to the conclusion of this greatAmerican novel. It is through a complex dissectionof the concept of hierarchies and their constructionsthat the patterns in Hawthorne's texts become moreobvious--and the meaning of the conclusion of thislong debated text becomes apparent.