"The Man of Adamant" is a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
written by
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...
. It was first published in the 1837 edition of ''
The Token and Atlantic Souvenir
''The Token'' (1829–1842) was an annual, illustrated gift book, containing stories, poems and other light and entertaining reading. In 1833, it became ''The Token and Atlantic Souvenir''.
History
The annual was chiefly edited by Samuel Griswol ...
'', edited by
Samuel Griswold Goodrich
Samuel Griswold Goodrich (August 19, 1793 – May 9, 1860), better known under his pseudonym Peter Parley, was an American author.
Biography
Goodrich was born at Ridgefield, Connecticut, the son of a Congregational minister. Goodrich was l ...
. It later appeared in Hawthorne's final collection of short stories ''
The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales'', published in
1852
Events
January–March
* January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic.
* January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...
by
Ticknor, Reed & Fields.
Plot
Richard Digby, who believes his philosophy on life is the correct one, refuses to share his ideas with anyone else. His heart ails from accretions of
calculous. He leaves his home, deciding to become a hermit. In the wilderness he discovers a cave and decides to make it his new home, a place where he can meditate. Water dripping from the roof, over time, has created forms of
adamant
Adamant in classical mythology is an archaic form of diamond. In fact, the English word ''diamond'' is ultimately derived from ''adamas'', via Late Latin and Old French . In ancient Greek (), genitive (), literally 'unconquerable, untameabl ...
within the cave. Digby decides not to drink from a nearby fountain; instead, he drinks the water dripping from the roof.
One day, the spirit of Mary Goffe appears before him, and she asks Digby to return to mankind. She says he needs mankind and the path to salvation is not within the cave. He orders her to leave him alone. She asks him to drink from the fountain and to let her read the Bible alongside him, and then his heart will be cured of its ailment. He refuses this also, and his heart stops.
Years later, a family discovers the cave. Digby still sits at the mouth of the cave, but his body has been turned to adamant. The family closes the mouth of the cave to conceal the horrible image.
Publication history
"The Man of Adamant" was first published in ''
The Token'' in 1837. Four years later, Hawthorne sent several of his early tales to
Sophia Peabody, soon to become his wife, for her opinion. She responded negatively to some of them, including "The Man of Adamant". On September 10, 1841, he responded to her criticism and mentioned, "I recollect that the Man of Adamant seemed a fine idea to me... but I failed in giving shape and substance to the vision which I saw. I don't think it can be very good."
[Mellow, James R. ''Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Times''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980: 188–189. ] It was republished in ''
The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales'' in 1851–1852.
References
External links
"The Man of Adamant"eBook fro
Project Gutenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man of Adamant, The
1837 short stories
Short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Works originally published in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir