The Scarlet Letter · Chapter
The Customhouse explained
The narrator introduces himself as a Surveyor in the Salem Customhouse, reflecting on his Puritan ancestors, his own idleness, and the discovery of a manuscript that will become The Scarlet Letter.
What happens
The narrator introduces himself as a Surveyor in the Salem Customhouse, reflecting on his Puritan ancestors, his own idleness, and the discovery of a manuscript that will become The Scarlet Letter. He describes the decay of the wharf and the customs officers, and explains his autobiographical impulse as a means to authenticate the tale.
Themes in this chapter
Sin and Guilt
The narrator reflects on the sins of his Puritan ancestors, including persecution of Quakers and witches, and expresses shame for their cruelties.
Identity and Individuality
The narrator contrasts his own identity as a writer with the stern Puritan values of his forefathers, exploring the tension between personal vocation and inherited legacy.
Characters to notice
- Hester Prynne
The narrator discovers a scarlet letter and a manuscript concerning Hester Prynne in the Customhouse.
- Surveyor Pue
The narrator mentions Surveyor Pue as the original author of the manuscript that tells Hester Prynne's story.
Key passages
“It is a little remarkable, that—though disinclined to talk overmuch of myself and my affairs at the fireside, and to my personal friends—an autobiographical impulse should twice in my life have taken possession of me, in addressing the public.”
The narrator finds it unusual that he feels compelled to write about himself publicly, despite being reserved in private.
This sets up the narrator's justification for the autobiographical sketch that introduces the novel.
“He was likewise a bitter persecutor, as witness the Quakers, who have remembered him in their histories, and relate an incident of his hard severity towards a woman of their sect, which will last longer, it is to be feared, than any record of his better deeds, although these were many.”
The narrator's ancestor was a harsh persecutor of Quakers, and his cruelty is remembered more than his good actions.
This highlights the theme of sin and guilt, as the narrator grapples with his family's dark history.