Hawthorne grew up in seclusion with his widowed mother. Hawthorne worked as a writer and contributor to periodicals. The work was based on his college life. It did not receive much attention and the author burned the unsold copies. However, the book initiated a friendship between Hawthorhe and the published Samuel Goodrich.
Selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love.
In 1842 Hawthorne became friends with the Transcendentalists in Concord - Ralph Waldo Emerson , Henry David Thoreau , Bronson Alcott, but generally he did not have much confidence in intellectuals and artist. He married in 1842 Sophia Peapody, an active participant in the Transcendentalist movement, and settled with her in Concord. A growing family and mounting debts compelled the family's return to Salem. Hawthore was unable to earn a living as a writer and in 1846 he was appointed surveyor of the Port of Salem, where he worked for three years. Hawthorne was one of the first American writers to explore the hidden motivations of his characters.