ne questionable deed...overshadow the fair aspect of a lifetime!" Hawthorne is logically hinting that the severity of Pyncheon’s shortcomings does indeed overshadow some of his public acts. Pyncheon is belittled as " a hard, cold man seldom or never looking inward." He has his chin so high in the sky that he metaphorically cannot see the inside of himself. This is definitely not a surprise after the tongue-lashing Hawthorne has obliged him with. He, moreover, says that Pyncheon will not change " except through loss of property or reputation." He is concerned more with having wealth and status than anything else. Not even " sickness...will help him to it; not always the death hour," will break Judge Pyncheon’s stubbornness. The Judge is totally caught up with the public’s holier-than-thou image of him that his he sees himself free of imperfections. The style of Hawthorne is deft and effective. His examination of Pyncheons two-facedness is formatted like a courtroom interrogation with Pyncheon on the witness chair. The climatic last tirade of the narrator releases all of Hawthorne’s disgust and revulsion in a captivating fashion. The organization and attention to what the reader is expecting keep the argument subtle and critical. ...
