Judge Pyncheon In 'The House Of The Seven Gables'

The way a story is told is completely different depending on the narrator because of their point of view. An example of this incident is in the passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne¡¯s The House of the Seven Gables. The sarcastic way that the character Judge Pyncheon is revealed through the narrator is distinguished through the narrator¡¯s (not the author¡¯s) style of writing including tone, selection of detail, and syntax. The tone of this passage goes from a bitter sarcasm to an almost angry incredulity.
In the beginning of the passage, the narrator lists Pynchoeon¡¯s supposedly ¡°good¡± traits to show how ¡°great¡± of a person he is. This leads us to believe that Pyncheon is a very fake person, which reveals the narrator¡¯s bitterness toward Pyncheon. In the last part of the passage, the narrator starts to sound angry and in disbelief that someone as evil as Pyncheon is treated with such respect.
His sarcasm is first revealed in the beginning. The ¡°splendid rubbish¡± that Pyncheon used to cover up his ¡°active and subtile conscience¡± shows that Pyncheon committed a wrongdoing. The ¡°splendid rubbish¡± contradicts itself, which shows the narrator¡¯s sarcasm. He lists the positive details about Pyncheon but because he uses strong and sharp descriptions, these positives and negatives clash to create an overall negative effect: sarcasm. In the end, the narrator becomes overly passionate of his opinion and speaks out his true thoughts about Pyncheon, which are of abhorrence. Pyncheon¡¯s ¡°reckless youth¡± was full of his ¡°questionable [deed]s¡± but society had blinded him in his judgment about himself. The narrator clearly states that no one good deed can cover up for an evil one. This moral is revealed to the reader through the negative adjectives of the narrator¡¯s