Great Carbuncle is a very popular short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which narrates the story of a group of pilgrims searching the legendary gem, ‘carbuncle.’ The group includes people with different characteristics. They have their own dreams about what to do with the gem if they find it. In the end, everybody realizes that their wishes were in the wrong place and returns to their normal lives. The theme of the story deals with the characters learning from their mistakes about the need to lead a simple life and to be satisfied with whatever God gives to each. “In Hawthorne’s tales, “wild nature” lends a range of symbols to “reveal the moral behavior of his characters” and provides a venue for his readers to “acquire personal and moral meanings.” (Nowacki).
The protagonist in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond is a person who decides to spend two years of his life in a small cabin near Walden Lake. He takes such a decision to learn how to live in simplicity and satisfaction with all that God has gifted to him. He talks about the need of living in unity with nature, humanity, and divinity. As he listens to the sounds of nature around him, he understands how happy he is to live in solitude, leading a simplistic life with birds and animals around the place. He also describes the lessons he learned from living there. He explains that every action in nature provides symbolism, about spiritual facts. The idea of transcendentalism forms the central theme of the story. E. B. White, in ‘The Yale Review writes, “Thoreau, very likely without quite knowing what he was up to, took man’s relation to nature and man’s dilemma in society and man’s capacity for elevating his spirit…” (Thoreau).
The themes in both the stories are similar in that, both convey the need to lead a simple life filled with satisfaction and joy. Nature, humanity, and divinity are all related to each other. They provide life experiences and facts, which are required to be understood by every human being, to lead a religious and righteous life. Since the stories deal with similar themes, the plot of Great Carbuncle can be revised by placing the protagonist in Walden Pond in Carbuncle and making analysis. For this purpose, the protagonist in Walden Pond shall be called simply the protagonist.
Imagine that the protagonist is one of the pilgrims in the story in search of the legendary gem along with the other pilgrims. He comes in search of it in order to teach the others that the real gem is nature itself. Whatever nature gives must satisfy one and one must also learn to live happily in unity with nature, humanity, and divinity. Every other pilgrim has a wish which he wants to fulfill on finding the gem. The other characters in the story include the seeker, Doctor Cacophodel, Master Ichabod Pigsnort, the cynic, the poet, Lord De Vere, and the newly wedded couple, Matthew and Hannah. The seeker wants to find the gem because he has been in search of it for his entire lifetime. He says he will die alongside the gem once he finds it. The protagonist is of the opinion that life is an experiment to be tried. Nature provides spiritual facts, the understanding of which is important to lead the right kind of life to get salvation. The seeker thinks spiritually about dying near the gem, but the protagonist would explain to him that the right way is to live one’s life, in unity with nature in order to learn the spiritual facts of life.
Doctor Cacophodel wishes to find the gem, to perform tests on it, and make copies of it. The purpose of doing this is to make money from its fame. His greediness is evident from his wish to perform tests on a natural gem which is considered a great stone. Here too, the protagonist’s view is different. He believes it is not right to destroy anything in nature. Instead, living in conformity with nature alone brings out the human qualities in people. Modern life challenges and destroys nature in many ways. Doctor explains the importance to lead a simplistic life in harmony with nature.
Master Ichabod Pigsnort is a merchant and he wishes to sell the stone, if he manages to grab it before others. He is greedy like the Doctor, to make money from the priceless gem. He feels more money will make his life happier. The protagonist would narrate how he once wished to own a farm, but later found that it was not at all necessary to own a farm in order to enjoy all the happiness in life. In fact, he would say that he found more happiness living in solitude in the small cabin near the Walden Lake, where he learned to understand the nature and other living beings around him.
Next character in the story is the cynic, who believes everything that others believe is wrong and that he is always right. The cynic believes that no gem as the carbuncle exists in reality. He fails to see what the real carbuncle is in nature. The protagonist would try to explain about nature and its beauty, which are the real gems. Each experience with nature is capable of teaching human beings, certain lessons which cannot be learnt from anywhere else. Spiritual and humanitarian facts which are the basis of life are taught by nature. Only human beings must know where to find them and how to adapt the facts in their lives.
The poet believes that he will develop ideas to write on finding carbuncle. He must have heard about the precious stone from his childhood. A real poet must find ideas in everything that he sees around. This character makes the mistake of going in search of ideas. The protagonist would probably teach him how to find beauty in nature and anything that is natural. Even spiritual facts are taught by nature in its own way. Every action in nature has a meaning. In order to get new ideas, the poet needs to be happy. In order to be happy, he needs to be satisfied with whatever God has given him. He must find beauty and happiness in everything that is around him. A complacent mind will be always free, thus helping in developing new ideas.
Lord De Vere is another character who must be taught what satisfaction and its resulting happiness is. The prince lives in a palace, and still he is not satisfied with all that he has there. He comes in search of a gem which has only been heard of in legends, because it will add to his family’s greatness and prosperity. Lastly, Matthew and Hannah, who feel they need to find the stone to bring more happiness in their home. They wish for its light to fill their house. The prince, Matthew and Hannah would be explained by the protagonist, the necessity to be satisfied, which is the best way to bring more happiness in life. He would teach Matthew and Hannah that the light the Sun brings inside their home is better than the light of the legendary stone. The shining of the stone will blind their eyes from other happiness. Going in search of something, that they do not deserve, will bring sadness instead of happiness.
Thus the pilgrims would have rethought their wishes and decided against it. They would have returned to the normal lives that they led earlier, and found happiness in it. The cynic would not have lost his eyesight. The seeker would not have died. Had they backed out of their journeys, the stone would have still remained as a legend, as a symbol of everything that nature provides and the truth about the real goal of life.
This topic was selected for writing this paper, because of its relevance in today’s world. People around the world run after more developments and advancements, with the hope of satisfying themselves better. Though they survive, they forget to enjoy their lives in the rat race. Everybody wants to win, and in the competition, people do not realize that the real happiness lies in enjoying the nature and understanding the underlying meanings of everything that happens in nature. Humans destroy nature with the aim of creating a better world with more advancements and facilities. They fail to understand that there is a direct relation between God and nature. So, it is important to discuss the role played by nature in human lives.
The revised plot dealt with the characters backing out from their journeys, because, at the end of Hawthorne’s story, the characters learn from their mistakes, but the seeker loses his life. The cynic too learns what is right, but he can no more see the beauty of nature, to enjoy a happy life. The purpose of the revised plot is to explain that nature is merciful enough to provide a second chance to human beings to lead a simple and happy life in conformity with nature and to understand the implications of everything that happens in nature. The plot is explained in the form of advices given by the protagonist to the characters in the story. This style is used because the readers can relate to the message better if it is conveyed in the form of advice. The plot has been revised and viewed from the perspective of the protagonist using a third person approach
The theme of this piece is to understand the importance of living in harmony with nature and finding happiness in smaller things of life. The legend of carbuncle provides symbolism. It represents nature and its beauty and the importance to maintain it. The purpose of the revised plot is to view the story with the idea of Transcendentalism. “At the beginning of Nature, Emerson posed the question, “The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we–, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?”” (New England Transcendentalism).
Works Cited
Nowacki, Jessica Chainer. Current Bibliography. BNET. 2007. Web.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden – An Annotated Edition. Richard Lenant. 2009. Web.
New England Transcendentalism. The Concord Magazine. 1998. Web.