On July 4, 1804, an author named Nathaniel Hawthorne was born (Meltzer). As Hawthorne grew older, he began to consider himself "the most obscure man in American letters." Through the use of popular themes such as isolation, guilt, and earthly imperfection, Hawthorne was able to involve much of his life and ancestral past in his work to address his own political and religious wonders ( “Nathaniel”). Hawthorne succeeds in “facing reality rather than avoiding it” in many of his stories (Clendenning). Because of yellow fever, Hawthorne's father died at a young age. Because of this incident, his mother fell into a deep depression and rarely showed Hawthorne the love and affection a young boy hungers for, thus affecting him in his adulthood and career. As Hawthorne grew older, he learned that he was related to a Puritan judge at the Salem witch trials named John Hathorne. During these trials, many innocent women were executed due to the rulings made by Judge Hathorne. Consciously, John Hathorne felt no guilt, but because Hawthorne felt the guilt that Hathorne should have felt, he legally added aw to his last name so that readers would not know of his past when he began publishing (Clendenning ). Because many of Hawthorne's writings were influenced by this family history, adding the w did not help his situation. Hawthorne's love of literature blossomed at the age of seven when he was unexpectedly injured. Because of this injury, he remained bedridden for fifteen months, thus leading him on the path of literary works. He even began to believe that if a person read a lot, he would write well (Meltzer). This belief proved true and even helped him create his own unique writing style...... middle of paper...... was successful, he may never have managed to write. Because he was influenced by his life, his stories influenced and continue to influence the lives of many others. His use of moral evil helped the students in their faithful walk and morals of life. Many people can be grateful that he was unhappy during his life because they wouldn't have his stories to read. Works Cited Arvin, Newton and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Hawthorne News. New York: VintageBooks, 1946. Print Clendenning, John. “Nathaniel Hawthorne” The American Novel, nd Web. March 17, 2014Gollin, Rita K, ed. “Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)”. Np, and Web. March 17, 2014 Meltzer, Milton. Nathaniel Hawthorne; A biography. Minneapolis: Twenty-First CenturyBooks, 2007. Print “Nathaniel Hawthorne; 1804-1864. Literary Biographical Dictionary, nd Web. March 17. 2014