The Custom-House Practice Quiz — The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: The Custom-House
What position does the narrator hold at the Salem Custom-House?
He serves as the Surveyor of the Revenue, the chief executive officer of the Custom-House.
What does the narrator find wrapped in ancient yellow parchment in the Custom-House attic?
A faded scarlet cloth letter A embroidered with gold thread, a commission for former Surveyor Jonathan Pue, and foolscap sheets documenting the life of Hester Prynne.
What sensation does the narrator experience when he places the scarlet letter on his breast?
He feels a sensation of burning heat, as if the letter were not red cloth but red-hot iron, and involuntarily drops it.
What does the ghost of Surveyor Pue ask the narrator to do?
He charges the narrator with bringing Hester Prynne's story before the public, saying the narrator will need the profit and should give Pue's memory proper credit.
What political event causes the narrator to lose his Custom-House position?
The election of Whig candidate General Zachary Taylor to the Presidency leads to the narrator's removal from office.
How does the narrator respond to losing his government position?
He buys ink, paper, and steel pens, reopens his writing desk, and becomes a literary man again, ultimately producing The Scarlet Letter.
Where was the narrator employed before coming to the Custom-House?
He lived at the Old Manse in Concord, where he associated with Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow, and the Brook Farm community.
How long does the narrator serve at the Custom-House before being dismissed?
He serves for approximately three years before being removed from office.
Who is the permanent Inspector, and what is his most notable characteristic?
An eighty-year-old man of perfect physical health but no intellectual depth, whose greatest passion is recalling fine meals from decades past.
Who is the Collector of the Custom-House?
A gallant old General who distinguished himself in the War of 1812, particularly at the battles of Chippewa and Fort Erie, now infirm and fading.
Who is Surveyor Pue?
A former Surveyor of Customs who died about eighty years before the narrator's time and whose private papers about Hester Prynne were found in the Custom-House storage room.
How does the narrator describe his first Puritan ancestor, William Hathorne?
A soldier, legislator, judge, and ruler in the Church who was a bitter persecutor of Quakers, remembered more for his cruelty than his better deeds.
What role did the narrator's ancestor John Hathorne play in Salem's history?
He inherited the persecuting spirit and made himself conspicuous in the martyrdom of the witches during the Salem witch trials.
What central conflict does "The Custom-House" explore regarding creativity?
The conflict between art and commerce, showing how bureaucratic government work stifles the imaginative faculty needed for literary creation.
How does "The Custom-House" introduce the theme of inherited guilt?
Hawthorne takes shame upon himself for his Puritan ancestors' cruelties against Quakers and accused witches, praying that any ancestral curse may be removed.
What does Salem represent as a motif in "The Custom-House"?
Salem represents stagnation and decay. Once a thriving port, it has declined into a quiet backwater, mirroring the narrator's own creative dormancy.
How does the essay explore the corrupting influence of government patronage?
Hawthorne argues that government employment saps personal initiative and self-reliance, comparing Uncle Sam's gold to the Devil's wages that steal a man's best attributes.
What is the "neutral territory" that Hawthorne describes in the moonlit room passage?
A space somewhere between the real world and fairy-land where the Actual and the Imaginary meet and imbue each other, which Hawthorne identifies as the ideal setting for romance.
What literary device does the "found manuscript" of Surveyor Pue represent?
It is a framing device that authenticates the fictional narrative by claiming it is based on historical documents discovered by the narrator.
What extended metaphor does Hawthorne use for political dismissal from office?
He uses the metaphor of the guillotine and decapitation, calling himself a "Decapitated Surveyor" writing "Posthumous Papers" from beyond the grave.
How does the American eagle over the Custom-House door function as a symbol?
It symbolizes the federal government's false promise of security. Despite appearing protective, the eagle flings off its nestlings with scratches and barbed arrows.
What does "emoluments" mean as used in the Custom-House essay?
Profits or compensation from employment or office, referring to the salary and benefits of the Surveyor position.
What does Hawthorne mean by "lucubrations" when referring to Surveyor Pue's papers?
Writings produced through laborious study or late-night intellectual effort.
What is meant by "torpid" in describing the Custom-House officers?
Mentally or physically inactive, sluggish, dormant—describing the officers' lack of energy and alertness.
Complete this quote: "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."
What do the narrator's ghostly Puritan ancestors say about his profession?
"A writer of story books! What kind of business in life... may that be? Why, the degenerate fellow might as well have been a fiddler!"
What memorable phrase does the General speak that the narrator considers worthy of a heraldic motto?
"I'll try, Sir!"—spoken on the verge of a desperate military enterprise, embodying New England hardihood.