"Ethan Brand—A Chapter from an Abortive Romance" (originally, "The Unpardonable Sin") is a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
written by
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
in 1850 and first published by
Ticknor, Reed, and Fields in 1852 in ''
The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales
''The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales'' is a collection of short stories by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Released in late 1851 with a copyright of 1852, it is the final collection of tales by Hawthorne published in his lifetime.
B ...
'', the author's final collection of short stories. Hawthorne originally planned a lengthy work about Brand, but completed only this piece. Hawthorne's inspiration was a
lime kiln
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is: CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2
This reaction can tak ...
he saw burning while climbing
Mount Greylock
Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,489 feet (1,063 meters). Located in the northwest region of the state, it is part of the Taconic Mountains, a geologically distinct range from the nearby Berkshire Mountains, Berkshire ...
.
Plot
A lime-burner named Bartram and his son hear a disturbing roar of laughter echo through the twilight in the hills. Soon thereafter, Ethan Brand arrives at the
lime kiln
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is: CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2
This reaction can tak ...
and is questioned by Bartram. Brand says that he used to keep the very same kiln before he went off in search of the "unpardonable sin", which he claims to have found. When asked what the unpardonable sin is, Brand replies, “It is a sin that grew within my own breast. A sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty claims! The only sin that deserves a recompense of immortal agony! Freely, were it to do again, would I incur the guilt. Unshrinkingly I accept the retribution!" Bartram does not understand, and mutters to himself that Brand is a mad man.
A group of townspeople arrive at the scene to gawk at Brand. In the course of his interactions with them, Brand is disturbed by their coarse behavior and begins to doubt whether he really found the unpardonable sin. When the townspeople compare Brand to another so called "madman" named Humphrey, Brand recalls a victim of his search, Esther (Humphrey's daughter), who left the province to become a circus performer and who subsequently became the subject of Brand's psychological experiment. Brand remembers that the research, "wasted, absorbed, and perhaps annihilated her soul, in the process," and so he is again convinced that he found the "unpardonable sin".
The
Wandering Jew
The Wandering Jew (occasionally referred to as the Eternal Jew, a calque from German ) is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Cruc ...
, carrying a
diorama
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...
on his back, joins the assembled near the kiln after dusk. The children of the town flock to the Jew to see his images. When Brand looks into the diorama, he sees something that disturbs him. He orders the Jew to get into the furnace or leave.
A village dog chases his own tail. The villagers head home, and Brand is left with Bartram and his son. Brand offers to tend the fire overnight, so Bartram and the boy go home.
Brand decides that his "task is done, and well done," and he climbs into the furnace to his death. Bartram and his son, after a night of fitful sleep and dreams full of maniacal laughter, awake to find the landscape populated by heavenly atmospheric phenomena. When they realize that Brand is gone, and that "the sky and the mountains all seem glad of it," they look into the lime kiln and find Brand's skeleton, transformed into lime. Inside the rib cage is a chunk of lime in the shape of a human heart. Bartram pokes the fragile artifacts and they crumble to dust.
Composition and publication history

In the summer of 1838, Hawthorne had visited
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contempor ...
and climbed
Mount Greylock
Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts at 3,489 feet (1,063 meters). Located in the northwest region of the state, it is part of the Taconic Mountains, a geologically distinct range from the nearby Berkshire Mountains, Berkshire ...
several times. His experiences here, especially a walk he took at midnight where he saw a burning lime kiln, inspired this story, originally titled "The Unpardonable Sin". Hawthorne had not written tales since 1844 when he wrote "Ethan Brand" in the winter of 1848–1849.
[Miller, Edwin Haviland. ''Salem is my Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1991: 263. ] He admitted he had difficulty writing it. He wrote:
Hawthorne had planned a lengthy tale about Brand's life and his travels in search of the "Unpardonable Sin" but published only this, most of which would have formed the climactic chapter.
Adaptations
In 1945, the story was adapted to the syndicated radio program ''
The Weird Circle'' as "The Heart of Ethan Brand".
References
External links
Online text
{{Nathaniel Hawthorne
1850 short stories
Short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne