Communal America

If I die, how badly will I be missed? Will my funeral be packed with meaningful mourners or will the church be vacant? What would my family and friends do without me?

Whether willing to admit it or not, these imaginative thoughts and speculations subconsciously slip into all of our minds at some point in time. In this sense, we are all able to sympathize and engage with Hawthorne’s Wakefield.

Contrary to other American authors, Hawthorne emphasizes setting as a key component of a literary work. The forces outside of a main character, such as location or background propel his plots forward. As part of his examination of outside influences, Hawthorne also fictively depicts the dynamics of an individual’s relevance and relationship with his or her surrounding community. Through ostracized characters, such as Wakefield, Hawthorne explores and defines America as a communal country embedded with a perpetual fear of outcasts.

Hawthorne’s Wakefield is a short story about a happily married man living in London. One day, the man – “let us call him Wakefield” – tells his wife he is “going on a journey.” For no reason, Wakefield abandons his life and wife by settling in a house only one street over from his original home. After 20 long years of solitude, he eventually returns home.

As a dark Romantic, Hawthorne often portrayed mankind as driven and controlled by a dark psychology. Wakefield (and human nature according to Hawthorne) is unpredictable. Actions cannot be reduced to clear cut motives. No one, not even Wakefield, knows why he leaves his wife. “The man took lodgings in the next street to his own house, and without the shadow of a reason for such self-banishment, dwelt upwards for twenty years” (1298). Adding to this oddity and unpredictability, Wakefield remains faithful to his wife by continually checking up on her. While his check-ups come off as stalking, obsessive behavior, his motive seems to be selfish. He wants to make sure that he is missed, and is devastated when he finds out that he is not.

As contributions to the Romantic literary movement, Hawthorne’s psychologically complex works of literature often conclude with memorable moral messages.

“He has left us much food for thought, a portion of which shall lend its wisdom to a moral…Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and systems to one another, and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever. Like Wakefield, he may become, as it were, the Outcast of the Universe” (1303).

In this short story, Hawthorne’s moral focuses on the importance of community. Influenced by New England, Puritan thought, Hawthorne presents one’s community as a necessary emotional and physical resource. Without his community, Wakefield wanders around without purpose. By compulsively stepping outside of his routine tasks and surroundings, Wakefield becomes an outcast and witnesses his lack of importance to those around him. Wakefield, and the reader, realizes that the benefits of communal living are only received if one truly engages and supports others.

Although we do not live in 19^th century New England, we can still benefit from Hawthorne’s lesson on community. While individuality and prideful independence are continually reinforced by our contemporary society, Hawthorne’s Wakefield stands as a thoughtful reminder to care for and engage with the ones you love. You never know when they may step out of your life for 20 years.