Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Wakefield" Short Response
• Story response log 19 : “Wakefield” - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Setting: In the city of London, England in a span of 20 years
Characters:
-Mr. Wakefield- A middle aged man, who one day decides to leave his home, and return many years later, as if nothing has happened
-Mrs. Wakefield- Wakefield's faithful wife, who awaited his return, but eventually accepted her widowhood state.
Narrative point of view
This story was told through Mr. Wakefield's perspective using the 3rd person limited narrative style. It was mostly driven by the narration and thoughts that Wakefield's character experienced.
Plot sequence:
The narrator (Hawthorne) begins by explaining a short reading he once gathered from the written media. The unusually common, in terms of culture, story of Mr. Wakefield. One day he tells his wife he has decided to wonder into the country side, away from London's noisy urban environment. He tells her not to expect him soon, but to expect him for a supper that was scheduled for a week later.
How long and how far was such journey? Only a couple of steps, however, it takes him 20 years to finally return home. This man decides to go into complete isolation for over two decades, just because his once very meaningful marriage had become too “mechanical”. None of it is directly implied but the reader understands that Wakefield is not happy with the way things have gone recently, before the time he leaves.
And so he stays away, keeping a low profile as he sees how his wife reacts to the situation. Naturally she feels sad and comes to realize the emptiness she lived in; it (the house) was quiet and lacked any meaning to it. She became a widow, since she had no word on Wakefield's whereabouts, she assumed he was dead.
After many years, Mr. Wakefield realizes how empty his quality of life had become. He deprived himself from the contact of friends and family; as a result he probably had no company or anyone to share anything with. He was alone, meditating whether or
Setting: In the city of London, England in a span of 20 years
Characters:
-Mr. Wakefield- A middle aged man, who one day decides to leave his home, and return many years later, as if nothing has happened
-Mrs. Wakefield- Wakefield's faithful wife, who awaited his return, but eventually accepted her widowhood state.
Narrative point of view
This story was told through Mr. Wakefield's perspective using the 3rd person limited narrative style. It was mostly driven by the narration and thoughts that Wakefield's character experienced.
Plot sequence:
The narrator (Hawthorne) begins by explaining a short reading he once gathered from the written media. The unusually common, in terms of culture, story of Mr. Wakefield. One day he tells his wife he has decided to wonder into the country side, away from London's noisy urban environment. He tells her not to expect him soon, but to expect him for a supper that was scheduled for a week later.
How long and how far was such journey? Only a couple of steps, however, it takes him 20 years to finally return home. This man decides to go into complete isolation for over two decades, just because his once very meaningful marriage had become too “mechanical”. None of it is directly implied but the reader understands that Wakefield is not happy with the way things have gone recently, before the time he leaves.
And so he stays away, keeping a low profile as he sees how his wife reacts to the situation. Naturally she feels sad and comes to realize the emptiness she lived in; it (the house) was quiet and lacked any meaning to it. She became a widow, since she had no word on Wakefield's whereabouts, she assumed he was dead.
After many years, Mr. Wakefield realizes how empty his quality of life had become. He deprived himself from the contact of friends and family; as a result he probably had no company or anyone to share anything with. He was alone, meditating whether or