Throughout history, many great philosophers of the past, such as Plato or Aristotle, have commented on their views of our inscrutable human nature, searching for reason or justification to explain human behavior. Many different theories have hypothesized it as either selfish or altruistic, boastful or humble, a great entity which allows man to prevail, or a mere thing which easily corrupted, crumbled and weakened. Similarly, Hawthorne, portraying his individual view of human behavior, writes his commentary of it in his "Custom-House". Through this introduction to his novel, The Scarlet Letter, describing members of the Custom-House, Hawthorne illustrates the fragility of human character and its tendency to become easily corrupted. Hawthorne, comparing the characters and their behaviors in the novel to those of the Customs House, reveals the feebleness of human nature and the commonality of all people. As a result of our error, we endure grief, which ties us together providing mutual ground for everyone to sympathize and forgive one another.
             Hawthorne exploits a particular member, the father of the Custom-House, an Inspector working carelessly with complete security of a regular income, creating a satirical sketch showing the plausibility of our regression to mere animal stature. Hawthorne's conclusion of this Custom-House officer having "no soul, no heart, no mind; nothing but instincts" describes the deterioration of his character, as he has "barely enough measure (of moral and spiritual ingredients) to keep the old gentleman from walking on all-fours" (11-12). This paradox, calling the officer a gentleman while at the same time comparing him an animal, satirically shows the extent to which human nature can decline when paying more attention to instinct rather than human emotion. In association with this idea, Hawthorne describes the "chief tragic event of the old man's life, his ...