To my belief, Nathaniel Hawthorne was putting more effort in trying to discover more meaning behind the shadows of life. ranscendentalism holds that every individual can reach ultimate truths through every aspect of Nature where God is present, everyone is capable of learning about God through intuition, in all its manifestations, Nature is symbolic of the spirit and that the world is good, and evil is nonexistent.
Hawthorne rejected much of this ideology, finding it too optimistic. Hawthrone had vastly different views of mankind's nature which opposed Transcendentalism. For example, in Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil", reveals how the soul can be succumbed to their inherently evil nature and also contained evidence of his pessimistic perspective of man's soul. Hawthrone's writings authors display exceptions of man's potential for evil but rather as what they view man's nature to be. In contrast, Transcendentalists propose that no limits exist when it comes to man's potential for good and that man can become an independent thinker who eventually cannot be influenced by the conformity (or evils) of society. Similarly, promoting individualism and civil disobedience because he perceives man as an optimistic being who has the power to do great good. Hawthorne's characters in his story exhibit the separation from society and the struggle with morality, very few of those characters can blame their poor choices on society's influence--rather, they have removed themselves from society, and their evil natures take over. In contrast, the Transcendentalists illustrate in their writings the importance of man separating himself from society (going into the solitude of nature for example) to find the inherent good in themselves. These are two completely different perspectives of mankind.
Hawthorne rejected much of this ideology, finding it too optimistic. Hawthrone had vastly different views of mankind's nature which opposed Transcendentalism. For example, in Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil", reveals how the soul can be succumbed to their inherently evil nature and also contained evidence of his pessimistic perspective of man's soul. Hawthrone's writings authors display exceptions of man's potential for evil but rather as what they view man's nature to be. In contrast, Transcendentalists propose that no limits exist when it comes to man's potential for good and that man can become an independent thinker who eventually cannot be influenced by the conformity (or evils) of society. Similarly, promoting individualism and civil disobedience because he perceives man as an optimistic being who has the power to do great good. Hawthorne's characters in his story exhibit the separation from society and the struggle with morality, very few of those characters can blame their poor choices on society's influence--rather, they have removed themselves from society, and their evil natures take over. In contrast, the Transcendentalists illustrate in their writings the importance of man separating himself from society (going into the solitude of nature for example) to find the inherent good in themselves. These are two completely different perspectives of mankind.