Some Important
Question-Answers
1.How is the family changed by the
guest's arrival in "
Ans:- It is important to note the
way that Hawthorne deliberately presents the family in this excellent story as
being very happy and contented together, in spite of the storm outside and the
threatening mountain that looms over them. Consider the way Hawthorne presents
the family to us:
The faces of the father and mother had a sober gladness; the children
laughed; the eldest daughter was the image of Happiness at seventeen; and the
aged grandmother, who sat knitting in the warmest place, was the image of
Happiness grown old. They had found the "herb, heartsease," in the
bleakest spot of all New England.
Note how all of the family are presented as being perfectly contented
with their lot. However, the arrival of the guest with his wide and far-ranging
ambitions changes of all of this. He causes each of the family in turn to
consider how they will be remembered and what acts will commemorate their life.
An important quote comes just before the landslide that kills them all:
"Old and young, we dream
of graves and monuments," murmured the stranger youth.
The arrival of the guest therefore causes the family members to become
unhappy with their lot in life and to begin to consider what their life amounts
to. The irony is of course that by leaving their house, the place of their
contentment, they actually all die. However, it is the family that is
remembered and the guest, with all of his ambitions, that is forgotten.
Hawthorne seems to be suggesting it is better to live a quiet and happy life than
to seek to leave your mark on the world.
2.What is the theme and purpose of
the story?
Ans:-This story is a fable about the
purpose of life, the vanity of earthly greatness, ambition, pride. The guest
has lofty ambitions for his life, not because he wants to improve mankind, but
because he wants to be remembered. Ironically, the reader discovers that he has
really done nothing remarkable and yet, he makes comments that imply that the
family with which he is visiting is wasting their lives. The guest is a
wanderer and has no connection to humankind whereas the family, although
perhaps not doing anything remarkable to ensure that they are remembered when
they pass on, nevertheless are in community with each other. They enjoy each
other's company, they like to sit by the fire.
The major irony of the story occurs when they are all destroyed by the
landslide, yet nothing remains of the ambitious guest. What does remain are
small, poignant tokens of the family that used to live in the house. These
tokens leave the reader to ponder what is really important in life - living it
while you can, doing something to improve the lives of those left behind, or
going around telling people how great you are and how insignificant everyone
else is.
3.What role does nature teach in this
story?
Ans:-
The fact that the family lives in a very precarious place - next to a
mountain where there have been many landslides and that a slide can occur at
any moment -- is significant in this story because at the end, a slide does occur
and the family and the guest are killed. Nature represents fate in the story,
we believe. Neither the family nor the guest has any control over what happens
to them in the story, in spite of the "ambitious" plans of the guest.
The fact that the family members have not achieved any great accomplishments
and the fact that the guest, despite his plans, has not achieved anything all
become irrelevant when they are all killed - by an "act of God" out
of their control (nature). The irony of the story is that in spite of his
plans, no one remembers the guest, but they do remember the family members by
the little tokens they left behind. So nature is used in a symbolic sense to
illustrate forces beyond our control in life.
4.Compare and Contrast the family and
the stranger in the story The Ambitous Guest by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
When we read the overview of the story, we will see that the family and
the guest are more than just characters. They represent the author's theme. The
family is a unit, but it consists of individuals. The unit's function is
community, nurture and love, in spite of the fact that each individual in the
family is unique. In contrast, the guest is alone. He is unique but he has only
his solitariness and does not exist as part of a family. Therefore, he has no
community. The words of the family and the guest illustrate this point. The
family is content with what they have until the guest shows up and starts
talking about his "ambition" - but it is just that - talk. When the
slide comes and destroys the people, the greater community remembers the family
and its individual members by the tokens of them that have been left behind.
There is no evidence that the guest ever existed.
5.What was the ideal idea that they
have, both of the ambitious guest and the family's member?
Both the family members and the guest wish for their ideals. The guest,
the young man, wishes that he will accomplish great things in his life. So far,
he has not reached his destiny, but he is young, and has hope that in the
future, he will make something of himself. The more the discussion continues,
the more the father and grandmother think about things that they, too, wish
they had, or had done. Meanwhile, the storm outside is getting worse and worse.
The grandmother begins talking about her death, and that she wants her
family to let her corpse look in a mirror when she dies so she can see herself
-- strange things like this. Even though the family pretends to be calm and
feel safe, the storm raging outside is a stark contrast to their illusion of
safety. Finally, there is a huge rock slide, the people run outside, and are
killed. If they had remained inside, they would have been saved because the
house was not destroyed. None of them is saved and years later when people are
looking at the ruins, there is no evidence of anyone - and they are not even
sure whether or not there "may" have been a guest that night. So the
young man goes into eternity in obscurity.
6. Criticize the characters in The
Ambitious Guest and what are the lessons we can get in that story?
The characters are nameless and this is purposeful. It illustrates that
all humans have a common fate: death.
The stranger speaks of ambition and the glory that awaits him and
possibly, the family. This could be seen as referring to the glory of Heaven,
but I think he refers to the glory awaiting in life on Earth. A hopeful,
wandering dreamer. Ambition is not necessarily a bad thing, nor is it
criticized completely in this story. There is, however, a subtle statement that
ambition can lead to isolation. While they talk about ambition, the stranger
says "it is our nature to desire a monument, be it slate or marble, or a
pillar of granite, or a glorious memory in the universal heart of man."
It's important to note that he calls it a monument,' rather than a memorial.
The father contemplates this, but is content with a slate stone rather than a
marble one. (Marble being more modern and prestigious and expected of someone
famous.) Even the grandmother worries how she'll look in her coffin. However,
the daughter says it is nice enough to sit by the fire and be contented even
though they are the only ones thinking of each other.
They are all contemplating death, how they will be remembered and who
will remember them. There is a camaraderie in sharing dreams. But it is not
ambition that unites them: it is the camaraderie itself. The irony is that they
left the safest spot, which was the comfortable anonymity in their home
surrounding the hearth.
The young stranger, full of ambition, comes to the door looking
melancholy. He is lonely and isolated from the world - until he engages in
conversation with the inviting family. His mood changes to cheerful. It's not
because he finally has an audience to hear his hopes and dreams (although this
is probably what he thinks.) It is because he is in the company of good people.
He is not alone. The irony is that what makes him happy is to be in the company
of these kind and anonymous people. Yet, he goes on about ambition and fame -
seemingly with hope and glory in mind, but it is selfish nonetheless. His
isolation, and quest for ambition has always kept him moving, wandering for
whatever glory might happen to him. There are many elements of foreshadowing,
mostly coming from nature: the wailing winds and so on.
Another quote: "Is not the kindred of a common fate a closer tie
than that of birth?" In the end, their common fate, burial under the
avalanche, is what they are remembered for. They are not remembered for their
ambition or what they achieved, but that they died in anonymity. They have no
grave stones or monuments. They are like the sailors who die at sea. But
Hawthorne does end by saying "Poets have sung their fate." Not just
them particularly, but all who've lead simple, meaningful lives. The smoke
billowing from the chimney and the seats still warm around the fire are their
grave stones. This scene is a much more warm and vital memorial than a cold
stone.
7.In the story The Ambitious Guest,
who is this guest? What could he want?
The guest, as described by the author, is "of a proud, yet gentle
spirit--haughty and reserved among the rich and great; but ever ready to stoop
his head to the lowly cottage door, and be like a brother or a son at the poor
man's fireside." The author also
tells us that the young man is motivated by ambition, to somehow be remembered
for something important someday:
The secret of the young
man's character was a high and abstracted ambition. He could have borne to live
an undistinguished life, but not to be forgotten in the grave. Yearning desire
had been transformed to hope; and hope, long cherished, had become like
certainty, that, obscurely as he journeyed now, a glory was to beam on all his
pathway,--though not, perhaps, while he was treading it.
As for what the young man wants when he comes upon the family's home, he
says only that he is headed to Burlington, Vermont, and has not made it as far
as he had hoped by nightfaull, for "a pedestrian lingers along a road such
as this."
8.What is the summary of The Ambitious Guest by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
This story begins cozily enough, with a family gathered around a fire,
harsh winter weather raging outside, and the vibe of possible danger, as their
cottage is perched below a mountain down which stones frequently slide,
startling everyone. A traveler coming
through the area is keeping company with them, and the family, content enough
on the outside, begins to reveal bits of pieces of discontent in their
individual lives. When the dangerous
sounds of a landslide can be heard, the family and their guest rush outside to
avoid the danger, but ironically enough running right into the danger, while
their cottage remains intact.
9.What is the main idea of "The
Ambitious Guest?"
"Wo for the high-souled youth,
with his dream of Earthly Immortality! His name and person utterly unknown; his
history, his way of life, his plans, a mystery never to be solved, his death
and his existence equally a doubt! Whose was the agony of that death
moment?"
As the quotation at from the end of
the story states, the guest who came to visit the family wanted nothing more
than to make his mark on the world. How ironic that he is killed before
he can achieve his ambition. He visited with this family and before the
end each of the unassuming members began indicate things they would like to be
remembered for. In the end, they all die from the landslide. The
family, will be remembered because they had a community, a home, a family,and
friends, but the "guest" will have died unknown.
10.Describe each of the characters in
"The Ambitious Guest".
There is a father, a mother, the 17 year old daughter, and old
grandmother, and a young traveler who shows up and makes himself at home with
the family. There are other children as well.
None are given names. It is told
like a fable, so there are no names at all, just descriptions through actions
and words.
The traveler begins by telling them of his ambition. He wants to make
his mark in the world. This talk gets
the individual family members talking about their secret wishes as well. The
father wants to rank higher in life than he does. He wants more respect from others than he
gets. The younger child of theirs wants to go "drink from the basin of the
Flume" which is a dangerous spot out in the cold. The grandmother wants them to hold a mirror above
her when she is dead and in her casket so that she may see herself and make
sure all is well before they bury her.
However, the mother and daughter have odd feelings about all of this
ambition being discussed. The 17 year old girl thinks it best to just sit by
the warm fire and be comfortable and content. The mother doesn't want her
husband to get too ambitious. She'd
rather not lose him. These are the
characters and what they represent.
11.What are the themes in "The
Ambitious Guest"?
One theme in The Ambitious Guest is ambition and how a person defines
contentment in life. On a stormy night, a stranger comes to the door of a small
cottage that sits at the base of a mountain, welcomed inside by the family, the
ambitious guest makes himself at home.
Inside the cottage is a family, mother, father, son, daughter and
Grandmother, relatviely content with the quiet snug life that they lead in the
remote cottage in the country. Unlike
the family, the guest is a traveler who has great expectations for his life,
big plans.
While the members of the family have always felt satisfied with the
quiet, simple life they have led in the cozy cottage, after hearing the guest
speak, the family starts to imagine all the things that they could do with a little
ambition of their own. Each family
member has his or her own vision of what they feel is missing from their lives.
"One by one, however, the family
members forsake their usual placid acceptance of things as they are and admit
to various fancies, so that, as the mother says, “we’re in a strange way,
to-night.” The guest himself is portrayed as having “a high and abstracted
ambition.” A solitary wanderer, his dreams of making his mark are just
that—dreams, reveries removed from the concreteness of domestic life as it is
evoked at the beginning of the story."
12.What is the conflict in the story
"The Ambitious Guest"?
Conflict: Security vs. Unknown
Conflict: Complacency vs. Ambition
Conflict: Fate vs. Choice
The cottage itself poses a conflict, it represents security vs. the
unknown. The family is never quite sure whether their house will remain secure
in its position. It sits at the base of
a mountain where rocks and stones tumble towards it constantly.
The family lives a complacent, quiet, life in the cottage as compared to
the stranger, the guest, who seeks adventure and challenge. The guest's attitude regarding how one should
live life, and the attitudes of the family members are opposite from each
other.
The ultimate conflict is whether we control our fate or destiny, or is
there really an element of choice involved in when death occurs. When the family must decide whether they
should remain in the small house once the storm begins to intensify and they
hear sounds of the mountain collapsing, are they choosing their own destiny or
was it fate.
Influenced by the talk of the ambitious guest, the family chooses to
flee the cottage and end up getting hit by the crumbling mountain, while the
cottage remains untouched by the disaster.
13. What is the theme of the story "The Ambitious Guest"?
One of the themes in this story is ambition, in conjunction with how it
shapes our destiny. This story is an
expression of how choices shape our lives and whether an individual has any
control over his ultimate destiny.
The story illustrates, however, by embracing an ambitious approach, you
ultimately take yourself out of the safe, secure zone and are exposed to
danger. Clearly, when the family decides
to leave the relative safety of the cottage to flee the sounds of the tumbling
mountain, they are acting out of character.
Were they influenced by the talk of the ambitious guest? Or would they have chosen to leave if he had
never shown up?
What we find interesting about this story, when we read it, we felt like
the family is running from the cottage not so much from the storm, but from the
lives they have lived within its walls.
And this, in my opinion is because of the ambitious guest and his talk
of dreams with great excitement.
"As they are caught up in his
enthusiasm, several family members express very personal feelings about their
lives. The father would like a better property and a better title (Squire)—in
short, a station in life that would command the respect of his community. One
of the younger children, excited by all this discussion of life's
possibilities."
14.What is the synopsis and reaction behind "The
Ambitious Guest"?
The "Ambitious Guest" is a story about a content family living
in a dangerous rocky location, called The Notch. A young man, the ambitious
guest, happens by and the family invites him into their cottage. The guest
discusses his ambition and how he wants to be remembered when he dies. The
simple family also begins discussing their ambitions and what they desire. The
guest disrupts the family's contentment in their cottage. The Slide, falling
rock, comes and all rush from the safety of the cottage and perish. Ironically,
the guest gets what he wishes for- a grand tomb! To be content with what you
have and not be led to false hopes could be a reaction to this story.
15.Why is the story titled "The
Ambitious Guest"?
The story is entitled The Ambitious Guest, because the main theme of the
work is ambition.
"The title of the story
focuses on the disturbing element: ambition. The guest's ambition is equated
with his solitariness, his wandering, and his separation from the community of
feeling enjoyed by the family."
The very idea that the stranger was out wandering in the most difficult
weather conditions, creates a contrast with the family who is nestled in their
cottage. The irony of the story is that
both the family and the guest end up with the same fate.
"The guest himself is portrayed
as having “a high and abstracted ambition.” A solitary wanderer, his dreams of
making his mark are just that—dreams, reveries removed from the concreteness of
domestic life as it is evoked at the beginning of the story."
16.What are the symbols in "The
Ambitious Guest"?
There are quite a few symbols in this short story. First, the family,
mountain folk, live in the Notch, on a rock face. The mountain and the rock, at
the close of the story, are symbolic not only of the power of nature, but also
become, ironically, the monument, the grave, and the headstones for the entire
family and the Ambitious Guest. The eldest daughter is named Happiness and the
old grandmother is Happiness grown old, symbolic of the simplicity and peace
present in the house and the women folk prior to the ambitious wishes brought
on by the guest. A heavy footstep is heard outside the door, symbolic of Death
that will shortly beckon all those within the house. The fire, fed with heart's
ease, metaphorically, is the only place the family is safe and comforted, yet
the family flees when The Slide arrives.
Literally, the slide is the falling rock which will take them to their
death. Metaphorically (symbolically), The Slide is their slide from grace, from
their peaceful existence to one of hopes and grandeur that could only lead to
their spiritual downfall as they are simple, content folk unlike their guest.
Ironically the young, refined and educated guest gets what he wishes for - a
monument over him at his demise.
Yet, paradoxically, when the Ambitious Guest says, "Then let Death
come! I shall have built my monument," he does not realize death is so
near nor will he ever be remembered or even known for the accomplishments he
wishes to achieve!
17.What is the short plot of
"The Ambitious Guest"?
The plot revolves around a family living in a cottage which occupies a
dangerous position at the base of an unstable mountain. They feel very secure in their home, sitting
by the fire, having always ignored the rumbling of stones they hear coming down
the mountain.
It is now winter, and an unexpected stranger appears at their door. The
man is welcomed into the cottage by the family and begins to talk to them about
his philosophy of life which is to take chances. This is in direct contrast to the family who
are very conservative in their lifestyle choices.
The whole point of the story is that the guest brings a sense of dreamy
adventure into the cottage and suddenly the family starts talking about doing
things that seem out of character for them.
"One by one, however,
the family members forsake their usual placid acceptance of things as they are
and admit to various fancies, so that, as the mother says, “we’re in a strange
way, to-night.”
The guest convinces the family to be more adventurous, so when danger
comes, they choose a course of action contrary to what they ordinarily would
have done.
"The family rushes from
the cottage seeking a safer haven but, in fact, flees “right into the pathway
of destruction.” The whole mountain falls on them. In the aftermath, their
cottage remains intact and the circumstances of their lives are apparent to all
who observe the tokens the family has left behind."
