Guilt and Shame Theme Analysis

“The Hollow of the Three Hills” tells the story of an unnamed young woman burdened with guilt after having abandoned her family for unspecified reasons. Desperate to learn how her loved ones are faring without her, the woman seeks audience with a wicked old crone in a hollow between three hills and willingly trades her life in exchange for three visions. These visions detail how the woman’s betrayal has affected those she left behind, each one more harrowing than the last. After the final and most devastating vision, in which the young woman learns that her child has died in her absence, she herself dies at the crone’s feet, fulfilling the terms of their agreement. Through this grim and fatalistic narrative, in which an otherwise empathetic and self-sacrificing young woman chooses to end her own life rather than live with the guilt of her failures, Hawthorne highlights shame as a destructive and ineffective feeling that disproportionately punishes those who do not necessarily deserve it and ultimately allows evil to triumph.

“The Hollow of the Three Hills” presents guilt not just as an emotion, but also as a form of punishment, self-appointed or otherwise. Hawthorne achieves this through his depiction of the titular hollow itself, which acts as a symbolic representation of these two concepts combined. In the story’s opening, the omniscient narrator describes the young woman as having been “smitten with an untimely blight in what should have been the fullest bloom of her years,” the “untimely blight” in question being her shame over her past. Meanwhile, decaying tree trunks are scattered around the hollow itself, one of which was once a “majestic oak.” This suggests that the hollow, much like the woman, has been cut down in its “fullest bloom,” symbolically tying the location to the woman’s guilty conscience. Meanwhile, the hollow may also act as a punishment, and more specifically a representation of a Christian Hell. Hawthorne signifies this through the use of twisted religious imagery—for instance, the old crone’s evil “prayers”—as well as the surrounding three hills. Though these hills have several potential symbolic meanings, given Hawthorne’s recurring exploration of religion in his works, it is possible to interpret them as a representation of the Holy Trinity. Under this reading, the hollow’s position beneath the hills, shrouded in complete darkness, conjures an image of condemnation from God. With these symbolic meanings in mind, the woman’s voluntary choice to enter the hollow and engage with the old crone can be read as her succumbing to her own shame and subsequently choosing to punish herself for her actions.

However, the story implies that the woman’s intense feelings of guilt may not be entirely rational, rendering her self-confinement and ultimate sacrifice in the hollow meaningless. Hawthorne implies this irrationality through the old crone. While it is easy to take the crone’s visions at face value, Hawthorne makes several suggestions that call her reliability into question, the first and most obvious of which being that she is explicitly stated to be an “evil woman.” Furthermore, the crone conducts her magic by drawing a cloak over the young woman’s face, both literally and figuratively pulling the wool over her eyes. However, despite the implicitly wicked nature of the old crone, the young woman trusts her word completely and judges herself according to the crone’s ambiguously truthful visions. Through the young woman’s naïve willingness to believe this “decrepit” woman, Hawthorne seems to suggest that those suffering with a guilty conscience become blinded by their shame, willing believe the worst possible consequences of their actions have come to pass, no matter how unreliable the source.

Ultimately, Hawthorne does not portray the young woman’s death as a fitting punishment for her crimes, but instead as a victory for the forces of evil. Hawthorne highlights the story as a tragedy through his portrayal of the young woman. Though she is a morally complex character, her appearance and personality paint her as the only real source of goodness in the hollow. While she abandoned her family, she displays sincere concern for their wellbeing, so much so that she is willing to sacrifice herself to see them once more. Additionally, in stark contrast to the death and gloom of the hollow, the opening paragraph describes her as being “graceful in form and fair of feature,” the emphasis on her fairness highlighting her as a metaphorical light in the darkness. With the young woman’s death, this light is extinguished, and the wicked crone expresses joy at this fact, proclaiming that the woman’s ordeal has been a “sweet hour’s sport.” This final line affirms Hawthorne’s stance that the young woman’s self-condemnation is no cause for celebration, but instead a victory for malevolent forces.

Overall, through its depiction of a morally complex character who has indeed done wrong, but who becomes blinded by her own shame and dies tragically, “The Hollow of the Three Hills” presents itself as a cautionary tale, warning its readers against the dangers of needless self-punishment and asking them to consider the irrational and often destructive nature of shame.