The Hollow of the Three Hills

“[A]nd here, at midnight or on the dim verge of evening, they were said to stand round the mantling pool, disturbing its putrid waters in the performance of an impious baptismal rite.”

In previous times, witches would perform Satanic rituals in this exact spot either at midnight or at sunset. The old woman has chosen this location, adding to the characterization of the old lady as the archetype of a witch. This also foreshadows that something supernatural or evil will happen in the story.

“Say quickly what thou wouldst have of me, for there is but a short hour that we may tarry here.”

The old woman’s urgency and short manner in comparison to the emotional nature of the lady characterizes her as apathetic and potentially malicious. Her knowledge of the location and the time constraint also indicates a familiarity with the area, famed for rituals and dark magic. Her apparent wisdom and assertiveness put her in a position of power over the lady.

“The lady trembled, and cast her eyes upward to the verge of the basin, as if meditating to return with her purpose unaccomplished. But it was not so ordained.”

Puritans believed in predestination, which is the idea that all events, especially salvation, have been predetermined by God and that no one has control over the events of their life. This omniscient narration indicates the path that the story will take—the lady will get what she came for, no matter the cost.

“There is a weight in my bosom that I cannot away with, and I have come to inquire of their welfare.”

The weight refers to the shame and guilt that the lady feels from leaving her family. This guilt is weighing her down and keeping her isolated. The shame is so great that it leads her to consult the witch, which alludes to the theme of The Destructiveness of Guilt and Shame.

“Not from my lips mayst thou hear these tidings; yet, be thou bold, and the daylight shall not pass away from yonder hill-top before thy wish be granted.”

The old woman is putting more pressure and responsibility on the lady to begin the ritual, imploring the lady to be bold. By saying that she herself will not be telling the lady about her relatives, the old woman is also informing the lady of her ties to the supernatural, confirming that she is a witch. The lady’s shame is so powerful that she still agrees to the ritual, showing The Destructiveness of Guilt and Shame.

“The old woman seated herself on the trunk of the fallen tree, threw aside the hood that shrouded her gray locks, and beckoned her companion to draw near.”

The old woman sitting on a fallen tree trunk demonstrates her affinity with death. She is comfortable on the dead tree because she presumably does these rituals often enough to garner herself a reputation. In using the word “shrouded” to describe the hood covering the old woman’s hair, Hawthorne is referencing a funeral shroud, foreshadowing both the vision of the funeral and the lady’s death.

“[S]he laid her forehead on the old woman’s knees, and the latter drew a cloak about the lady’s face, so that she was in darkness.”

The lady taking a position of supplication in front of the old woman is a physical manifestation of her willingness to submit to the old woman. This shows The Destructiveness of Guilt and Shame in the lady’s life. The lady being cloaked in darkness symbolizes the spiritual darkness that the lady has entered and foreshadows her death.

“At first the words were faint and indistinct, not rendered so by distance, but rather resembling the dim pages of a book which we strive to read by an imperfect and gradually brightening light.”

Hawthorne switches the story’s point of view from third person objective to first person by using the word “we.” Switching the point of view to first person draws the reader more fully into the story. Now, the reader is not just an impartial observer; instead, the reader is joined with the narrator to more fully experience the visions.

“Chains were rattling, fierce and stern voices uttered threats, and the scourge resounded at their command.”

The fierce and stern voices belong to angels who are ordering the chains of hell to stop rattling. There is ambiguity surrounding the realism of these events, as they could be projections of the lady’s anxiety and fears. The chaotic and stressful church service illustrates the theme of The Danger of Strict Religious Beliefs. In this vision, the church and potentially the supernatural rally together to shame her.

“In each member of that frenzied company, whose own burning thoughts had become their exclusive world, he sought an auditor for the story of his individual wrong, and interpreted their laughter and tears as his reward of scorn or pity.”

The members of the congregation and even the preacher are characterized as being self-absorbed. Instead of attending the church service to learn more about God, they are each there to focus on their own situations. The preacher, who is supposed to be a moral leader, spends the sermon disparaging the lady. The church is shown as a place where selfish individuals gather, not as a loving, supportive environment. This highlights the harmful environment that sometimes occurred as a result of Puritanical values.

“The golden skirts of day were yet lingering upon the hills, but deep shades obscured the hollow and the pool, as if sombre night were rising thence to overspread the world.”

The image of night spreading over the world foreshadows the two upcoming deaths in the story and creates an ominous mood. Just as the day is almost ended, so is the lady’s life.

“Then came a measured tread, passing slowly, slowly on, as of mourners with a coffin, their garments trailing on the ground, so that the ear could measure the length of their melancholy array.”

The lady hears the sounds of the funeral before she sees it. This causes a build-up of suspense for both the lady and the reader. This vision is revealed as the final of three visions presented to the lady and is intentionally the most upsetting for her to take in. With each successive vision, the lady is faced with those she has affected, ultimately having to witness her own child’s funeral and citing her own departure as the cause.

“The sweeping sound of the funeral train faded away like a thin vapor, and the wind, that just before had seemed to shake the coffin pall, moaned sadly round the verge of the Hollow between three Hills.”

The vision magically concludes, and Hawthorne includes diction that produces vivid imagery to illustrate the supernatural experience at the heart of the narrative. The wind, along with the soul of the lady, has withered in strength in response to the reality of the present.