the Veil of the Narrator

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Blithedale Romance is unique in any other piece of literature that I have read in the past few years, in that it relies so heavily on the voice, descriptions, and narration of the main speaker, Mr. Coverdale. This entire story is told through his accounts, seen through his eyes. Never do we jump to the perspective of another character, and so within the first few chapters, we as readers come to know the distinct characteristics and insecurities that make Mr. Coverdale the character that he is. However, there are also consequences of this intense focus on specific perspective, and these consequences reveal some themes presented throughout the book.

By only seeing these characters through the eyes of Coverdale, the reader begins to create opinions that may or may not be true. Coverdale is portrayed as a very insecure and egotistical character. He often over-analyzes situations, comments, and even physical traits of the people he is with, therefore deciding upon an opinion of their character, who they really are as a person. This happens so much, that the reader begins to unconsciously assume that the judgements Coverdale makes on the other characters are true. The reader is manipulated into a false sense of identification, therefore drawing false conclusions on these characters without coming up with their own opinions.

Also, by experiencing the story through the eyes of Coverdale, we are able to get a grasp on his own character, and his true feelings about the idea of the Blithedale utopia. Early in the book, whe he becomes sick and is bed-ridden, he begins to regret leaving his old life for this new one. His selfish nature on the matter is revealed when he states, "In this predicament, I seriously wished-selfish as it may appear-that the reformation of society had been postponed about half-a-century, or at all events, to such a date as should have put my intermeddling with it entirely out of the question." When things are fine, conversation is light, and people are happy, Coverdale is more than willing to accept the ways of their newfound community. But as soon as things get hard, which they always do in life, he immediately withraws from it. It seems almost as though he doesn't really care for the ideals and beliefs of Blithedale, but is more concerned with how he appears in the eyes of others by accepting it.

This scene reveals yet another main theme of the book, which is the inherent selfishness of humanity. Much like in Transcendental Wild Oats, the idea of this utopian society where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few is almost an excuse for Coverdale to recieve positive judgement from the people around him. Tie this in with Coverdale's obsessive analyzation of characters such as Priscilla, Zenobia and Hollingsworth, and you have a story that is an interesting study on the fragile nature of acceptance and insecurity.