twilight, or shadowy environments.

In the early nineteenth century, American writers of romance faced two major challenges: there was minimal demand for this type of imaginative literature, and America lacked a medieval past and royalty to create the appropriate atmosphere. This lack of demand led reviewer Benjamin, in 1836, to predict that if Hawthorne could compile his magazine stories into a book, he would likely find success "certainly in England, perhaps in this country." Throughout his life, Hawthorne expressed feeling burdened by the challenge of crafting romantic fiction in a nation that had not yet developed an appetite for it.

To address the absence of a medieval past, he replaced it with the closest American equivalent: the period from the original Puritan settlements up to the eve of the Revolutionary War. In this era, he found heroes and villains, significant issues, and grand ideas. After Andrew Jackson's election as president, the nation was fervently patriotic and celebratory. The decades leading up to the Revolution, the backdrop for ‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux,’’ were distant enough in history to be shrouded in legend and mystery. The narrator sets the scene in the first paragraph and begins the second with a line reminiscent of a medieval tale: ‘‘It was near nine o’clock of a moonlight evening, when a boat crossed the ferry with a single passenger.’’ Hawthorne notes in the ‘‘Custom House’’ section of The Scarlet Letter that moonlight ‘‘is a medium most suitable for a romance-writer to get acquainted with his illusive guests.’’

The terms romance and novel are used to differentiate types of long fiction, much like tale and short story distinguish approaches to short fiction. Tales are less constrained by realism compared to short stories. Hawthorne considered his longer works, such as The Scarlet Letter and The Blithedale Romance, as romances. His shorter pieces were compiled into collections with titles like Twice-Told Tales and Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales. For Hawthorne, these terms were chosen with precision to define what he describes in The Scarlet Letter as a ‘‘neutral territory, somewhere between the real world and fairy land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbue itself with the nature of the other.’’

Irony
The term "irony" refers to a contrast between appearance and reality, or between what someone claims is true and what is actually true. The narrator in this story uses irony when he repeatedly calls Robin a "shrewd youth." Robin certainly thinks of himself as clever, even telling the kind gentleman that he is known for his shrewdness back home. However, the truth is that Robin is far from perceptive or intuitive. For instance, when Robin encounters his first town resident and inquires about his kinsman, the man responds rudely and even threatens him. Robin pauses to consider this reaction and, "being a shrewd youth," incorrectly concludes that the man must be a newcomer unfamiliar with Molineux. As Robin navigates through town, he misinterprets everything he sees and hears, and the narrator humorously comments on each of Robin’s misjudgments with ironic remarks about his supposed shrewdness.

This irony creates a light-hearted, humorous effect. Both the narrator and the reader are more aware than Robin, gently mocking him for his inability to grasp what is obvious. Nevertheless, the mockery is mild. Robin is neither foolish nor contemptible because of his inflated self-perception. Instead, the subtle irony portrays Robin as a young man who had every reason to believe he would succeed in the city, only to find himself out of his depth.

Setting
A story’s setting provides the backdrop against which the action unfolds, typically defined by time and place. In "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," the narrator sets the scene in the opening chapter. The story is set "not far from a hundred years ago," around the late 1720s or early 1730s, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which included most of present-day Massachusetts and New Hampshire. During this period, rural families like Robin’s were largely unaffected by political issues, but city colonists were starting to resist British control. Although the American Revolutionary War was still four decades away, minor acts of rebellion and civil disobedience, such as the tarring and feathering of Major Molineux, had already begun to emerge.

Romanticism
Hawthorne is widely regarded as one of the pioneering and most significant writers of the romantic period in American literature, and "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" showcases some romanticism traits that Hawthorne would further develop in his novels. Romanticism was an eighteenth and nineteenth-century movement that deviated from neoclassicism, which emphasized strictly formal literature and art inspired by classical Greek and Roman cultures. In American fiction, romantic writing mirrored the burgeoning confidence and sense of mystery surrounding the growth of a new nation.

‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ contains numerous elements of romanticism. While European romantic authors frequently set their tales in medieval Europe with knights and royalty, Hawthorne and his contemporaries drew similar inspiration from the historical period preceding American Independence. The story's dreamlike ambiance, its somber tone, and the fact that the events unfold in dim lighting are also hallmarks of romanticism. Additionally, the story’s emphasis on Robin and his psychological state, rather than on action and physical conflict, marks a new trend of the romantic era.

Allegory
An allegory is a narrative where characters and events symbolize broader themes and concepts. In such tales, specific characters might represent abstract qualities, akin to the Grasshopper and the Ant story, where one character embodies laziness and the other diligence. In an article for the Sewanee Review, Q. D. Leavis proposes that ‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ should be interpreted as an allegory, suggesting that a fitting subtitle would be ‘‘America Comes of Age.’’ According to her interpretation, Robin symbolizes ‘‘the young America,’’ poised to decide its future direction. When Robin joins in the laughter at his uncle's expense, he signifies America's realization that it must discard British influence and forge its own path.

While Hawthorne incorporates some elements of Gothic fiction into this story, his main inspiration is the historical memoir. In the opening paragraphs, he meticulously sets the scene, placing the events in the colonial period of American history when local uprisings were causing problems for British officials attempting to govern the provinces. By establishing this realistic backdrop, Hawthorne then shifts focus to a psychological exploration of the young protagonist, Robin. He skillfully uses symbolism, drawing on traditional associations with light and dark, primary colors, and moonlight to reflect Robin's psychological state. Additionally, Hawthorne employs several allusions that suggest the story can be interpreted as a classical descent into hell. He includes details that connect "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" to renowned works like the Odyssey (c. 1050-850 B.C.), the Aeneid, and particularly the Inferno (1321).

1828: Andrew Jackson is elected president. His focus on the rights and duties of the average citizen in governing a democratic nation ushers in a period of fervent patriotism.

1990s: After years of widely publicized scandals among top government officials, public interest in national matters is low.

1830s and 1840s: Beautifully printed and bound annual collections of essays, short stories, and poems are popular Christmas gifts in England and the United States. These collections create a strong market for short fiction. Although most works are published anonymously, the annuals allow several significant writers, including Hawthorne, to gain recognition with publishers.

1990s: Short fiction is featured in popular and literary magazines but does not sell as well in book form compared to novels. Fiction writers often hone their skills by writing short stories, but build their audience through publishing novels.

1700s: With no motorized vehicles and unpaved roads, travel from the countryside to towns is slow. It takes Robin five days to travel from one part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to another, covering a distance of no more than 190 miles.

1990s: A car can traverse Massachusetts in about three hours at standard highway speeds. The Concorde airliner travels faster than the speed of sound.

1700s: Boston is the largest settlement in New England and is likely where Molineux resides. In 1790, the earliest year for which records are available, the population is 18,320.

1830: Boston remains the largest city in New England, with a population of 61,392.

1990: Boston continues to be the largest city in New England, with a population of 574,283.

Hawthorne's contemporaries viewed his tale of Robin Molineux as an extension of various stories depicting the separation between the American colonies and England. From a literary standpoint, however, the narrative aligns with the tradition of the Tale of Initiation, a genre with numerous examples. Distant eighteenth-century predecessors include the picaresque novels by Tobias Smollett, such as Roderick Random (1748) and Humphry Clinker (1771), which recount the misadventures of young men who are thrust into adulthood and must navigate the world on their own. Twentieth-century critics have also argued convincingly that the story can be seen as a reinterpretation of the descent into Hell, vividly described by Dante in the Inferno section of the Divine Comedy. Subtle references to the poet's journey through the eighth circle of Hell have been identified, and key phrases used by Hawthorne in this narrative bear a striking resemblance to those found in early nineteenth-century translations of Dante's poem.

Throughout his career, Hawthorne wrote stories about his New England heritage, and there are notable connections between "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" and many other works in his collection. The naive protagonist in this story bears a strong resemblance to the main character in "Young Goodman Brown." Additionally, Robin's journey shares similarities with the quest of the title character in Hawthorne's "Wakefield."

‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ was released on audiocassette by Jimcin Records in 1983. The tale is also featured in Volume 7 of Jimcin’s audio anthology Great American Short Stories: A Collection (1984).

Sources
Benjamin, Park, Review of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, in American Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, October 1836, pp. 405–07; reprinted in The Recognition of Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by B. Bernard Cohen, University of Michigan Press, 1969, p. 5.

Gross, Seymour, ‘‘Hawthorne’s ‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’: History as Moral Adventure,’’ in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 12, September 1957, pp. 97–109; reprinted in Casebook on the Hawthorne Question, edited by Agnes Donohue, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1963, pp. 51–52, 59.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Preface to The House of the Seven Gables, 1851; reprinted, Norton, 1967, p. 1.

———, The Scarlet Letter, 1850; Bantam, 1965, pp. 34, 35.

Leavis, Q. D., ‘‘Hawthorne as Poet,’’ part 1, in Sewanee Review, Vol. 59, Spring 1951, pp. 179–205; reprinted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales: A Norton Critical Edition, edited by James McIntosh, Norton, 1987, p. 367.

Male, Roy R., Hawthorne’s Tragic Vision, Norton, 1957, p. 49.

McWilliams, John P., Jr., ‘‘‘Thorough-Going Democrat’ and ‘Modern Tory’: Hawthorne and the Puritan Revolution of 1776,’’ in Studies in Romanticism, Vol. 15, Fall 1976, pp. 549–71; reprinted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales: A Norton Critical Edition, edited by James McIntosh, Norton, 1987, pp. 377–78, 379.

Pearce, Roy Harvey, ‘‘Robin Molineux on the Analyst’s Couch,’’ in Criticism, Vol. 1, 1959, p. 87.

Tuckerman, Henry T., ‘‘Nathaniel Hawthorne,’’ in Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. 17, June 1851, pp. 344–49; reprinted in The Recognition of Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by B. Bernard Cohen, University of Michigan Press, 1969, pp. 56–57.

Further Reading
Cohen, B. Bernard, ed., The Recognition of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Selected Criticism since 1828, University of Michigan Press, 1969.
This collection begins with an overview of trends in Hawthorne studies and includes forty-three reviews and critical essays. Notable contributors include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, William Dean Howells, and T. S. Eliot. ‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ is not specifically mentioned.

James, Henry, Hawthorne, 1879; reprinted, edited by Dan McCall, Cornell University Press, 1998.
This first book-length critical study of Hawthorne remains in print across several editions and is still highly regarded. James acknowledges Hawthorne’s genius but has been criticized for overemphasizing the ‘‘provincial’’ aspects of American life and Hawthorne’s perspective.

Male, Roy R., Hawthorne’s Tragic Vision, Norton, 1957.
Male explores moral development as the central theme of Hawthorne’s major works. He interprets ‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ as Robin’s journey to find a father figure. Robin becomes a man only when he frees himself from his reliance on this illusory authority.

Martin, Terence, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twayne, 1965.
This book serves as an introduction to Hawthorne’s life and work for general readers. Martin situates Hawthorne within the early nineteenth-century culture, which was not favorable to imagination and lacked a significant body of imaginative literature. He includes a timeline and an annotated bibliography.

Mellow, James R., Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Times, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Winner of the 1983 National Book Award, this biography is considered the definitive account of Hawthorne’s life. Spanning nearly seven hundred pages, it is detailed yet accessible to a general audience.

Pennell, Melissa McFarland, ed., Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Greenwood Press, 1999.
This comprehensive analysis of Hawthorne's work is designed for both high school and college students. The chapter dedicated to ‘‘My Kinsman, Major Molineux’’ covers various aspects such as the setting, plot, themes, and historical background.