Nathaniel Hawthorne, an insightful author of his time, focused his writings on sin and hypocrisy. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, he was the great-great-grandson of John Hathorne who served as a judge in the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. His father died of yellow fever when he was 4, leaving his mother to care for Nathaniel and his two sisters. Due to his mother's grief over the loss of his father, Hawthorne felt a sadness that followed him throughout his life (Diorio). At the age of 9, Hawthorne injured his foot, causing him to be bedridden for nearly three years. During this period he became an avid reader (Meltzer). He was home-educated until attending Bowdoin College, and years after graduation he served as editor of a Boston-based magazine. At Bowdoin College, Nathaniel Hawthorne was introduced to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce (Diorio). Hawthorne spent a lot of time writing The Scarlet Letter based in part on what he observed while working at the Boston Custom's House (Morey). Once Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody, they moved to Concord, Maine, where Hawthorne became friends with the Transcendentalists, writers including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Amos Bronson Alcott (Morey). He had three children with Sophia: Una, Julian and Rose. United States President Franklin Pierce appointed Hawthorne consul to Liverpool, England, where he served for four years. During the Civil War, Nathaniel Hawthorne's good friend Thoreau died, causing Hawthorne to lose his will to write and live (Diorio). While traveling to New Hampshire with a former president, Franklin Pierce, Hawthorne was weakened by illness and depressed (Meltzer). He died during this trip in the middle of a paper ......ld; never lie. Regardless of how society thinks one should live, people should live their lives moving away from sin and admitting wrongs, and remaining on good terms with their community, without trying to provoke another bad will. Works CitedDiorio, Mary Ann L. Student's Guide to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Berkley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2004. Print. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The scarlet letter. 1850. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003.Print.Meltzer, Milton. Nathaniel Hawthorne: a biography. Minneapolis: Twenty-FirstCentury Books, 2007. Print. Morey, Eileen, ed. Readings on The Scarlet Letter. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Print. Stage, Nancy. “What is a reasonable response to Hester Prynne’s crime? " Introduction. The scarlet letter. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. xiii-xxxv. Print.