Roger Malvin's Burial

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"Roger Malvin's Burial" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that explores themes of guilt, promise, and psychological torment in the aftermath of a frontier battle.

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Roger Malvin's Burial canonical 1

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work
short story
author Nathaniel Hawthorne
basedOn legend of the Lovewell's Fight frontier battle
centralConflict Reuben Bourne's struggle with guilt over abandoning Roger Malvin
character Cyrus Bourne
Dorcas Malvin
Roger Malvin
climax Reuben unknowingly kills his own son at the spot where he once left Roger Malvin to die
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
firstPublicationType gift book
firstPublicationYear 1832
firstPublishedIn The Token
genre historical fiction
psychological fiction
short fiction
hasTone psychologically intense
somber
tragic
includedInCollection Mosses from an Old Manse
surface form: Mosses from an Old Manse (later editions and collections)
language English
literaryDevice foreshadowing
irony
psychological realism
symbolism
literaryForm prose
literaryMovement American Romanticism
literarySignificance considered one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's darkest early tales
motif hereditary or transmitted guilt
oath and broken vow
wilderness as moral testing ground
narrativePerspective third-person narration
periodOfPublication 19th century
plotSummary After a frontier battle, Reuben Bourne leaves the mortally wounded Roger Malvin in the wilderness, promising to return and bury him but failing to do so.
Years later, Reuben is haunted by guilt over breaking his promise, which ultimately leads to a tragic climax involving his own son.
protagonist Reuben Bourne
resolution Reuben finally fulfills his promise by burying both Roger Malvin and his son together
setting American colonial frontier
symbol blood as symbol of unatoned sin
forest as symbol of inner guilt
theme broken promises
conscience
family tragedy
frontier violence
guilt
psychological torment
sin and expiation

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mosses from an Old Manse hasPart Roger Malvin's Burial