The Man of Adamant
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"The Man of Adamant" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was published in the 1837 edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, edited by Samuel Goodrich. It later appeared in his collection of short stories The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales, published in 1852.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Richard Digby, who believes his philosophy on life is the correct one, refuses to share his ideas with anyone else. His heart ails from collections of calculous. He leaves his home, deciding to become a hermit. In the wilderness he discovers a cave and decides to make it his new home, a place where he can meditate. Water dripping from the roof, over time, has created forms of adamant within the cave. Digby decides not to drink from a nearby fountain; instead, he drinks the water dripping from the roof.
One day, the spirit of Mary Goffe appears before him, and she asks Digby to return to mankind. She says he needs mankind and the path to salvation is not within the cave. He orders her to leave him alone. She asks him to drink from the fountain and to let her read the Bible alongside him, and then his heart will be cured of its ailment. He refuses this also, and his heart stops.
Years later, a family discovers the cave. Digby still sits at the mouth of the cave, but his body has been turned to adamant. The family closes the mouth of the cave to conceal the horrible image.
[edit] Major themes
The spirit of Mary Goffe represents Religion.
The cave is a metaphor for Digby's own heart.
Digby is so vain that he would refuse Goffe and the rest of humanity, leaving him a "hardened" man to his own contrivances. His vanity also slants his interpretation of Biblical verses.
[edit] Quotes
"Of a truth, the only way to heaven leadeth through the narrow entrance of this cave,--and I alone have found it!"
"The shadow had now grown so deep where he was sitting, that he made continual mistakes in what he read, converting all that was gracious and merciful to denunciations of vengeance and unutterable woe on every created being but himself."
[edit] External links
- "The Man of Adamant" eBook from Project Gutenberg.
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