The Custom House in The Scarlet Letter: A Simple Guide to Chapter 1

So you've started reading The Scarlet Letter and hit a chapter called "The Custom House." It can feel a little confusing. You might be wondering, "Where are the main characters? What does this have to do with the story?"

Don't worry! This first chapter is like a special introduction from the author himself, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He's pulling back the curtain to tell you where the story came from.

Let's break it down so it's super easy to understand.

1. Who Is Telling The Story?

The person talking in this first chapter isn't a character from long ago. It's the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He's talking directly to you, the reader.

He's telling you about a time in his own life when he worked at a Custom House. It's like a real-life prologue before the main event begins.

2. What Exactly is a "Custom House"?

Think of a Custom House as a government office at a port where big ships come in. The workers check all the goods and packages coming off the ships to make sure taxes are paid.

• Hawthorne's Job: He worked at the Custom House in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts.
• Was it Exciting? Nope! Hawthorne found the job incredibly boring. He worked with old, uninspiring men and felt like his creativity was disappearing.
• Why It Matters: This boring job gave him a lot of time to think. And it's where he made a huge discovery.

We've all had jobs that felt a little bit like watching paint dry. I remember working a data entry job in my teens. To keep my mind busy, I'd invent exciting character names for a book I wanted to write. I spent hours thinking up names like "Agnus Maxwell" while typing numbers. A boring job can sometimes give your imagination the space it needs to run wild.

3. Hawthorne's Family Shame

Hawthorne also tells us about his family history. His ancestors (relatives from long, long ago) were very important and strict people called Puritans.

One of his great-great-grandfathers was a judge who was part of the famous Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne felt a bit of shame about this. He felt like his ancestors would look down on him for being a writer of "silly" stories instead of a serious judge or leader.

It makes me think about my own family history. My family can trace our line all the way back to 750 AD, where an ancestor apparently helped a king. The funny thing is, the family stories never say exactly what he did to help! It's this big, important fact, but also a total mystery, which is kind of like how Hawthorne felt about his own famous relatives.

4. The Amazing Attic Discovery

This is the most important part of the chapter!

One day, while looking around the dusty attic of the Custom House, Hawthorne found an old package. Inside, he discovered two things:

1. A Scarlet Letter "A": A beautifully stitched piece of red cloth, shaped like the letter A.
2. A Manuscript: A stack of old papers that told the true story of a woman named Hester Prynne and why she had to wear this letter.

Discovering something old with a story is always interesting. Recently, I put on a jumper I hadn't used since the first COVID lockdown. I reached into the pocket and pulled out an old, crumpled face mask. It wasn't nearly as exciting as Hawthorne's discovery, but for a second, it was like finding a little time capsule from that very strange period of our lives.

5. Why Did He Write This Chapter?

Hawthorne wrote "The Custom House" to set the stage. He wanted to:

• Explain His Inspiration: He's showing us that the story of Hester Prynne isn't just something he made up out of thin air. He's grounding it in a "true" story he found.
• Connect Past and Present: He links his own life and family history to the story he's about to tell.
• Make it Feel Real: By starting with a true-to-life account, he makes the fictional story of Hester feel more believable and important.

People still debate if Hawthorne really found the scarlet letter. I think he probably did, or at least found something that inspired the story. There's new evidence that the man he claimed wrote the original papers, Surveyor Pue, was a real person who was shot during the Siege of Boston. It's very likely his belongings, including his writings, were left behind and forgotten in the Custom House. While the actual letter is probably lost to time, I believe Hawthorne's discovery was real.

6. Key Quotes from The Custom House

To give you a real taste of Hawthorne's writing, here are a couple of important quotes from this chapter, along with a modern-day translation.

Quote 1: Discovering the Letter

Modern language: "The object that caught my eye in the mysterious package was a piece of fine red cloth, worn and faded. It had traces of gold embroidery, now frayed and defaced, with hardly any glitter left. The craftsmanship was impressive. It showed a skill in needlework that ladies who understand such things assured me was a lost art. It would be impossible to recreate even by carefully picking out the threads. As I looked closer, I noticed that the scarlet cloth, reduced to a rag by time and moths, appeared to be the shape of a letter."

Original wording: "But the object that most drew my attention to the mysterious package was a certain affair of fine red cloth, much worn and faded, There were traces about it of gold embroidery, which, however, was greatly frayed and defaced, so that none, or very little, of the glitter was left. It had been wrought, as was easy to perceive, with wonderful skill of needlework; and the stitch (as I am assured by ladies conversant with such mysteries) gives evidence of a now forgotten art, not to be discovered even by the process of picking out the threads. This rag of scarlet cloth—for time, and wear, and a sacrilegious moth had reduced it to little other than a rag—on careful examination, assumed the shape of a letter." (Chapter 1)

Quote 2: On His Ancestors

Modern language: My first ancestor is shrouded in family lore with a dark grandeur. His image has lived in my imagination since childhood. Ae still haunts me, creating a connection to the past stronger than any bond I feel to the present town. I feel a deeper tie to Salem because of this grave, bearded, dark-cloaked, and steeple-crowned forefather. He arrived early in its history, with his bible and sword. He walked the untouched streets with dignity, and stood out as a man of both war and peace."

Original wording: "The figure of that first ancestor, invested by family tradition with a dim and dusky grandeur, was present to my boyish imagination as far back as I can remember. It still haunts me, and induces a sort of home-feeling with the past, which I scarcely claim in reference to the present phase of the town. I seem to have a stronger claim to a residence here on account of this grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steeple-crowned progenitor—who came so early, with his Bible and his sword, and trode the unworn street with such a stately port, and made so large a figure, as a man of war and peace—a stronger claim than for myself, whose name is seldom heard and my face hardly known" (Chapter 1)

Now that you know where the story came from, you're ready to dive into the main event. "The Custom House" gives us the backstory, but the real drama starts with Hester Prynne herself.

Read the guide to Chapter 2: The Market-Place →

Interested in an easier-to-understand version of The Scarlet Letter with helpful footnotes and explanations? Check out our modernized edition! It makes a classic story accessible and engaging for today's young readers.