“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?”
– Jeremiah 17:9
The study of man’s mind is a fascinating pursuit, despite the daunting impossibility of the task. The depths to which a man’s mind and soul can be understood are simply a scratch on the surface of the total. However, this examination is the objective of many works of literature and in some sense is present in almost all of literature. One particular manifestation of this search is in many authors’ depictions of evil. This topic is one of unique interest for certain authors, some of which are Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Herman Melville. Nevertheless, despite their similar focus, their individual presentations of evil include a large variety of means. They range from exploring the covert nature of the internal evil within the human heart to the overt, overarching effect of evil in the natural world. All of them do address the effect of evil and its consequences in the offender’s life. Likewise, they all present quite a different view of human nature than that of the transcendental movement.
In The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe presents evil with the capacity to invade the material world, not merely in a metaphoric sense, but physically, with dramatically detrimental effects. As the narrator of the story approaches the house, there is an overwhelming sense of gloom permeating the atmosphere. Poe, without explicitly stating it, gives the house an innate sense of malevolence, almost as if it is emanating from the structure itself. Roderick Usher is the victim of this saturation of evil and it has begun to manifest itself within him as debilitating fear. This fear is what initially caused him to call his friend, what prevented him from speaking up when he realized that he had buried his sister alive, and what ultimately led to his death. This fear is caused in part by the acute sensitivity of his senses; however, the underlying cause seems to be guilt over some unstated sin. It begins to drive the joy out of every activity. Even as the narrative proceeds, his mental state deteriorates and with it his tolerance for the activities of daily life. This decline of health reaches its depth after the death and burial of his sister. As the awareness of his error comes into his consciousness and he realizes his mistake of burying her alive, his final plummet begins. The gnawing guilt grips Usher’s heart, affecting him with severe results, but despite this, he remains silent and refuses to address his fear. He instead turns inward, retreating within himself, and allows the evil to control his entire being. Eventually, the narrator himself is afflicted by the oppressive atmosphere and succumbs to similar, though not as pronounced, symptoms. In harsh contrast with the transcendental views of self-reliance and nature as the answers for personal victory, these two men find respite in neither of these places. Usher makes the grievous mistake of attempting to rely purely on himself. His invitation for the narrator to visit is the only attempt he makes to employ outside help. Other than that gesture, he is withdrawn and seems to look only inward. The surrounding environment does not bring any more relief. The very furnishings of the house begin to reflect the depressed mood within the house. Likewise, on the final night of the House of Usher, the weather too proves to be an ominous harbinger of the night’s events.
Nathanial Hawthorne describes the effects of evil in a different manner but with some very similar themes. His primary focus is the effects of guilt on the conscience and its effects on interacting with society. In Young Goodman Brown, the guilt creates an attitude of suspicion in the character Goodman Brown. He allows himself to be drawn to the temptation, convinced that it will be the last time, and with each step tries to turn back. The evil influence is presented as a grave man who carries with him a symbolically twisted walking stick. After following along with this person for a ways, Goodman Brown resolves to go no further and parts ways with his companion. At this point the story begins mingling reality with the imaginative fancies of Goodman Brown and the exact events of the night are not clear. The effects of them, however, are dramatic and lifelong. Because of his dream, in which he encounters the evil in every person that he knows, he then regards them each with suspicion. From the minister to his own wife, he cannot see past his distrust. The distrust caused by his own sin remains with him, preventing him from ever again seeing others in the same way. During his night in the woods, he lost his faith in himself and, in turn, his faith in others. Similar to Poe’s story, the evil that is present is manifested in the physical world as symbols and foreshadowing. This is seen primarily in the elder man who leads Goodman Brown into the woods at the beginning of the tale. Again, transcendental views are contradicted throughout the story but primarily in the lack of faith in man’s deepest natures. Goodman Brown encounters evil that night and, from that time on, is reminded of it through every person that he sees.
The Minister’s Black Veil is another exploration of the effects of guilt in the human heart. Mr. Hooper, becoming acutely aware of his sin, determines to wear a black veil as an outward demonstration of the deception in his heart. For this decision, he is made a social outcast even while maintaining his position as the village parson. However, he does not view the veil as a burden that he must suffer. Instead, he sees it as bringing truth to his life by being honest about his depravity. The opaque veil, while blocking his face from view, acts as a transparency to his heart and a revealing of the separation that exists between all people. The minister maintained his vigilance throughout his life and even in death did not allow the veil to be removed. His intention was a noble one, that being to make his parishioners conscious of their own veiled sins, and did effect changes in the people whom he encountered. Nevertheless, his obsession with the hidden sins of men had its consequences in his life. The most evident of these consequences was his separation from society. This was in part because of the people’s dread but also partly the responsibility of Parson Hooper as typified by his dying quote, “I look around me, and lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” The premise of this narrative is one of skepticism about man’s goodness as well as a cynical view of human nature.
Hawthorne’s recurrent theme of guilt and withdrawal from humanity is presented again in his story Ethan Brand. In this account, Ethan Brand has completed his search for the Unpardonable Sin and returns to his hometown as a conclusion. However, with his quest finished and his heart hardened by his study, he has nothing further to do with life and ends his by casting himself into a lime-kiln. His pursuit had ruined him as a man by requiring that he disregard all love and reverence for the human soul and resort instead to cold philosophical curiosity. The final result was a separation of his intellect from his heart for he came to realize that the sin which he sought, the Unpardonable Sin, was the sin of his search. His victory was one of internal defeat and of infinite spiritual loss. The product of his search was absolute disregard for the brotherhood of humanity and reverence for God. This intimate knowledge of one’s own soul, which is the epitome of the transcendental search, did not result in peace for Ethan Brand. Instead, it robbed him of his purpose for living by isolating him from society and un-shielding his own depravity.
Another example of the consequences that result from withdrawal from society is given in Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener. Bartleby becomes a sad picture of unmitigated hopelessness and lack of objective resulting from isolation. His separation is not one that is forced upon him by situations beyond his control. It is self inflicted and carefully maintained. Each effort of the narrator to establish a rapport with Bartleby is met with seeming insubordination and an utter lack of effort on the part of Bartleby. The distance at which Bartleby keeps himself from interaction is emphasized all the more when he both refuses to work or leave the premises, yet this also acts as a way of humanizing him. He does not desire to be completely secluded from humanity; instead, he simply cannot bring himself to interact with them in a sufficient manner to obviate this seclusion. As the narrator discovers at the end of the story, Bartleby formerly worked as a dead letter clerk. This daily contact with depression and bleakness took its toll on his disposition until he could no longer release it. Unlike the transcendental desire to improve personally by removing dependence on society, his lack of interaction with people did not foster a growth of an independent spirit within him. Conversely, he lost all initiative, resorting to an absolute dependence on his employer and finally dying alone and without purpose.
These different representations of evil all address its effects on man and interaction with society. Each one, in its own way, presents an opposing view to transcendental outlook. None of them portrays any form of benefit from adherence to transcendental beliefs. The selections repudiate the beliefs in all ways from showing evil in nature to emphasizing the evil that is naturally in man. Instead, evil results in severe consequences that have far-reaching effects within a man’s soul that can last for an entire lifetime.
