I bite my tongue somewhat with this rating - it is rather on-the-nose (in other words, perfect for a high schooler with no symbolic eye to be found) and dreary, maudlin from start to finish without a hint of hope. But it works for the era, and in this case the prose can be sacrificed in place of that dark atmosphere, a product of Hawthorne's combined love for New England and disdain for the religious ideals upon which the region was colonized.