The Ambitious Guest

by Nathaniel Hawthorne, B.J. Harrison (Narrator)

"The Ambitious Guest" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. First published in The New-England Magazine in June 1835, it was republished in the second volume of Twice-Told Tales in 1841.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Audiobook, Horror, Historical Fiction, College

Audiobook

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

We may all, in some small way, wish that we might be of distinguished position, whether in character or deed, in the present or the future, living or extinguished. But oftentimes such a fate comes to those who are least cognizant of their esteemed place in hearts and minds, and they leave this world comfortable and contented in their place only to become revered in their passing. Alas, these are the ones who have earned their stature and perhaps that is the lesson to be learned here. To become a distinguished person and remain alive in thought and memory, it cannot be expectedly sought, but must be quietly, respectfully, and often unexpectedly realized.

A purposeful tale contemplating if one's destiny can or should be preordained, or does it all just come down to chance and circumstance?

Read it here:
https://americanliterature.com/author...

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in The New England Magazine (June, 1835), this is one of the most romantic and ominous of Hawthorne’s moral tales. It was based on a real event, known as the Willey Tragedy: in 1826, in Crawford’s Notch, New Hampshire, seven members of the Willey Family and their two hired men were buried in an avalanche precipitated by a violent rain.

Hawthorne decides not to concentrate on the disaster, but on the period immediately before it. He eliminates the two hired men, but adds a young visitor to the Willey’s rough inn: the “ambitious guest” of the title. After dinner, this young man, although does not care about being famous while he lives, confides that he wishes to be remembered after death for some great deed. “I cannot die till I have achieved my destiny. Then, let Death come! I shall have built my monument!" Stirred by his confidences, members of the Willey Family express their final wishes too.

This conversation gives a particular dignity and poignancy to the inevitable catastrophe. The body of the poor young man is never identified, and Hawthorne ends his tale with this reflection:

“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!”

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In rough weather a young man, a stranger, knocks at the door of a family of mountain dwellers. Inside he chats with the happy family and tells them about his ambitious plans for the future. He's flirting with the elder daughter, ma and pop listen to the young man's talk and can imagine to live somewhere else, grandmother talks about the perfect outfit and fitting of the clothes when laid to rest in a coffin. And how does the story end? There seems to be a landslide outside moving toward the cottage with our characters inside. Will they survive? I really enjoyed this classic Hawthorne tale with this fine Gothic references and the setting full of foreboding (so much happiness can't last, can it). Captivating, errie and with a surprising twist at the end. Absolutely recommended, not only to Hawthorne fans.

[Vaishali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah! Completely unexpected. Hawthorne artfully, painstakingly paints his characters' personalities between their interactions... then -BAM- kills them all in one fell swoop. And now the juxtaposition: by twist of fate, a stranger who wished to be reknown dies an unknown, while his plain-folk hosts are recalled dearly by survivors.

Well played, Mr. Hawthorne, well played.


.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One unpleasantly cold night, a youthful man, making a journey to Burlington stops to warm himself at a cottage which is perched in a notch atop a mountain. It is a wintry and precarious spot where the rocks keep falling from the mountain every so often.

The anonymous young man enters the cottage and is welcomed by the family to warm himself. He is greeted and entertained with food. The young man a loner makes himself comfy with the uncomplicated joys that the family affords.

During the tête-à-tête the young man tells the group that he nourishes a covert aspiration: his name will remain ever etched in the mind of men when he dies. He admits that he has not yet done anything noteworthy or revolutionary for which he can claim immortality. However, once he has reached his goal, he will be geared up for death.

The family’s young daughter differs, saying that it is better to take pleasure in the quality times with friends and the members of the family even if they fail to dish out something which is globally or unanimously appetizing. In other words those men, who have never hogged the limelight or shot to fame can derive joy from the simplicities of life. The family’s aged grandmother wishes to be immaculately dressed for her funeral not even ‘a ruffle should be unsmooth’ or a hair on her head goes out of place. The father shares with the family that he wishes he had a ‘good farm in another town,’ a larger home in a nicer place.

At that very moment an avalanche of rocks rushes down the mountain with a deafening growl. They all shriek -- “The Slide the Slide and within a twinkling of an eye they rush out of their cozy cottage for the safe shelter.”

Nevertheless, every single soul is decimated in the rock fall, never to be seen again. Their mortal remains are perpetually lost. But inexplicably the cottage in which they lodged goes untouched and unharmed in the wreckage around the calamitous devastation.

A most important constituent in a short story is either a single emotion or a series of emotions to be called forth by a single situation. In ‘The Ambitious Guest’ the young stranger’s sentiment is to remain etched in the mind of men for good and ever.

The stranger says: “So far, I have done nothing. If I disappeared tomorrow from the face of the earth, no one would know anything about me. No one would ask who he was. Where did he go? But I cannot die until I have reached my destiny. Then let death come! I will have built my monument.”

This emotion of the young man kindles emotions in the father who wishes: “It would have been nicer if we had a little farm down in the family. Some place where we could see our mountains without being anxious they would fall on our heads...And when I had grown old, I would die happy in my bed. You would put a stone over my grave so everyone would know I lived an honest life.”

The old woman too in the company is also overcome with emotion and says that she has made her funeral clothes some years earlier. They are the finest clothes she has made since her wedding dress. She is afraid that she would not be buried in wedding dress.

There are only four characters in the story — the young traveller, the father, the young daughter and the elderly grandmother. These characters are not limned in full as a character is portrayed in a novel.

All concentration is riveted on one or two salient traits of a character. Hawthorne writes of the young stranger, his “name and person are utterly unknown, his history, his way of life, his plans, a mystery never to be solved, his death and his existence equally a doubt.”

The young man is highly ambitious and yearns to remain ever etched on the mind of men after his death though he is yet to crack on something path-breaking, formidable. And all the members of the family identify themselves with the stranger’s ambition and share his dreams, hopes and desires.

One of the principal themes of this story is focusing attention on the traveller’s aspiration which chimes in with the deepest desires, dreams, hopes and wishes of all the members of the family — the young daughter, the patriarch and the elderly grandmother. But their ambitions are unrealized, dreams dashed and crashed, hopes blasted and fanciful wishes belied.

Another important theme which cries for the reader’s notice is ‘fate’. As the family and the stranger disclose their ambitions yet to be fulfilled is fairly unaware that fate is to swoop on them at any moment.

In this story, the use of narration is negligible and the emphasis is more on the dialogic form than on explanation. The story is unfurled or woven off this dialogic form. All the characters in the story, the young traveller, the father, the old woman, and the young girl converse with one another and exchange views on ambition, life and death, wishes, hopes and dreams, fears, destiny of all. Since the story is cast in a dialogic form, we have here a foretaste of a drama that walks and talks.

This is often counted as one of the finest short stories ever penned.

As a short story ‘The Ambitious Guest’ is an epitome of perfection for it has almost all the characteristic features of the greatest short stories of the world written by Turgenev, Maupassant, Katherine Mansfield, O’ Henry, Maugham, Lawrence et al.

These features include –

a) A single character or a very few characters,

b) A single event,

c) A unity of impression,

d) A unity of effect,

e) A singleness of purpose,

f) One informing idea,

g) One pivot of interest,

h) Strict economy of materials,

i) Fascinating plot,

j) Brevity and precision,

k) Single emotion or a series of emotions called forth by a single situation.

Brilliant would be an understatement.

[Sher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware the consequences of striving, restlessness, and dreaming of greener pastures. Home sweet home.

[ally douglas? · Rating 3 out of 5]

go girl give me nothing

[Anhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ it’s in our nature to want a monument. Some want only a stone on their grave. Others want to be a part of everyone’s memory”

Ironic story that talks about ambition. We spend most of our lives just wishing to make something to be remembered, without realizing that life is short.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have arranged my thoughts on this short story into a haiku:

"The joy of planning--
Rocks fall. Everybody dies.
Nothing is assured."

[Valowlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Oh, I have always had a gift of feeling what is in other people's hearts," said he, half seriously. "Shall I tell the secrets of yours? For I know what to think when a young girl shivers by a warm hearth, and complains of lonesomeness at her mother's side. Shall I put these feelings into words?"

Okay, first of all, who gave Hawthorne the right to be so brutally real? This is my third story of his and I just CAN'T handle how he manages to downright pierce through your ribcage and yank out your guilty conscience. You feel at fault and ashamed even when he doesn't directly accuse you of the sin—even when you did not commit it! The judge's gavel reverberates and you know, struck speechless from the futility of an attempt at defence, that you are meant for the gallows.

Like holy crap, man.

"Old and young, we dream of graves and monuments," murmured the stranger youth. "I wonder how mariners feel when the ship is sinking, and they, unknown and undistinguished, are to be buried together in the ocean—that wide and nameless sepulchre?"

The story started out like a fairy tale. One night, a family—mother, father, daughter, little children, grandmother—sits cosily around their fireplace. A travelling stranger arrives and is greeted warmly. A hearty meal, laughter and merriment. Then, they begin to talk...

But while they spoke softly, and he was watching the happy sadness, the lightsome shadows, the shy yearnings of a maiden's nature, the wind through the Notch took a deeper and drearier sound.

We see the wants and wishes of different demographics here. The little children have whimsical, adventurous fantasies. The daughter longs for a romantic relationship. The parents desire peace, contentment, simplicity, quiet. The grandmother, in metaphors and superstition, expresses the inability to achieve more and the hope to die without regrets. The travelling stranger... yearns recognition. Solitary for most of his life, he journeys in the trail of that Something that will make his name known. He is sure in his heart that he will one day be famed. Regard earnestly that to "freeze myself to death on the top of Mount Washington, only that people might spy at me from the country round about" as "a noble pedestal for a man's statue". He yearns, and yearns, and yearns, and yearns...

"As yet," cried the stranger—his cheek glowing and his eye flashing with enthusiasm—"as yet, I have done nothing. Were I to vanish from the earth tomorrow, none would know so much of me as you: that a nameless youth came up at nightfall from the valley of the Saco, and opened his heart to you in the evening, and passed through the Notch by sunrise, and was seen no more. Not a soul would ask, 'Who was he? Whither did the wanderer go?' But I cannot die till I have achieved my destiny. Then, let Death come! I shall have built my monument!"

Along all these wants and wishes come the impediments that prevent fulfillment. It might be an essential acquirement of maturity. A need for courage. A rekindling of curiosity and excitement. A release of the fear of the unknown. A... more tangible manifestation of an ambition. Less dreaming, more doing. We know their wants, and we know their obstacles. And yet...

*sigh* Not gonna lie, I saw myself most in the travelling stranger. And this made the ending that much more painful. (Thanks, Hawthorne.)

Woe 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?

(Read it here.)

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that story went somewhere that I didn’t expect. What seems to be a simple story about a traveler coming to a place secluded under the mountain on a trail, happy to share their hearth and food, turns out to be a surprising rendition of the 17th century version of being hit by a semi when crossing the road. The point, I gather, is to note that one must live for the moment.

[Kevin Valèra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a twistfully crafted story of a family who lived atop a mountain where there are slides that happen every now and then. This family likes to gather around the fire, grandmother, husband and wife, and the children, and share the warmth of the hearth and of the family, in contrast to the cold winter outside their cottage.

I remembered reading this first on high school, and during such time, was not that... Good enough at conprehending stories as these, especially since English is not my first language. It was a hard time understanding such command of words but now, at a better light, and I humbly reckon, of higher level of comprehension than I was then, I can say that this story is quite wonderfully told about the unpredictability of life, and how one may dream and express about what is to come, only to have it remain a dream.

The guest was a young lad expressing his desire to someday die and be remembered, and this being said, spread courage like wildfire, to the family members, making them express how they want to be in the future. There is a masterful and almost indiscernable literary devices that shall only resurface after you have finally grasped what actually happened in the end. I may quite be one to tell that the stranger must be a phantom or a vision himself of what is to come.

All in all, it is an eerie, and perhaps, if I may say, fantastic story with a plot twist in the end.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ambitious Guest by Nathaniel Hawthorne was first published in 18sr. It is a beautiful romance and morality tale that is based on a real event (the Willey tragedy) and is a shocking story that develops the characters so well you are surprised it can be done in so few pages.

The book tells the story of the few moments before the tragedy when a young visitor arrives at the Willey's home. They share a dinner and conversation, and allow the reader to know them and care about them. When the visitor confides that he wants to be remembered well after death: “I cannot die till I have achieved my destiny. Then, let Death come! I shall have built my monument!" the reader knows that most of us feel the same. It resonates. The message is poignant, and we find ourself dreading the goodbye that is sure to come.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a summary than it is a review :)

This story is centered around a humbled and unified family, who is gathered around a hearth. A strange person who will be known as " The Ambitious Guest" makes his appearance and is welcomed with so much warmth from all the family.

We can see that although they live in a very cold and isolated place, the family is always happy and thankful. such a contrast between the reality of the harsh outside and the cozy inside.

Throughout the story we learn bits and pieces about the personalities of each member of the family. And even the stranger shares his view of the future and his ambitious.

In the end, because the house was situated in a dangerous Notch. The family and the stranger were victims of the falling of the slide which led to their tragic death.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

To not be remembered in death are the ultimate fears of the characters in "The Ambitious Guest." Hawthorne makes use of nature and humanly requests to show the disparity's between people and the earth.

[Namrata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew what I was in for as I came across this, " Is not the kindred of a common fate a closer tie than that of birth?".

Then again I like the author's style even if I don't think much of the content.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

If told slightly in a different manner, this would have been an outstanding ghost story, but as it is, it's simply a well done short story about people in the last moments of their lives even though they are unaware of that fact.

[MariaFernanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

KABAM. That good!

[Maryam Samiei · Rating 3 out of 5]

while I was going through this short story I couldn't think of that meticulous end. I lived in that warm cottage for a while and loved it:)

[Judy Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Man proposes, G-d disposes” stunningly illustrated.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ambitious Guest was published in June 1835 in The New England Magazine. In 1841, it was re-published in Twice-Told Tales, Vol. II.

This story is set in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and revolves around a young traveler who seeks shelter with a family living in a remote, isolated inn. The young man, driven by his ambition, shares his dreams of fame and success with the family. Despite their humble and contented lives, the family becomes enchanted by the young man's passionate aspirations. As they discuss their own hopes and desires, a sudden landslide strikes, threatening to bury them alive. In their panic, they flee the safety of their home, only to meet their tragic end in the wilderness.

The story ends with a poignant irony: the young man's dreams of glory and the family's newfound aspirations are all dashed, and their deaths go unnoticed by the world. The moral of the tale is a reflection on the futility of ambition and the unpredictability of life.

Hawthorne's story is based upon the real-life 1826 tragedy of the Willey Family which consisted of Samuel Willey, his wife, five children, and two farm hands who lived in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. Located in the Notch, surrounded by mountains, the Willey's house served as an Inn for travelers passing through the desolate valley. One night, following heavy rainstorms and flooding in the valley, the mountain gave way, crashing down. Hearing the slide, the family ran from the house seeking safety in a cave they have previously built for such a threat. They were too late and were all buried by the slide. The house survived, untouched.

Jeremiah and Annie Willey family.

The Willey Family House

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished listening to the audible version of "THE AMBITIOUS GUEST" by NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE and narrated by B.J. HARRISON.
A young traveler stops for the night with a family that lives in a "notch" next to a mountain. They make friendly conversation, interrupted once by the sound of a wagon carrying other travelers , and then by the sound of rocks falling from the slope. The father reassures the visitor that rockfalls happen regularly without causing harm, but that the family has a "safe place" to go in the event of a serious collapse.
The group carries on with their friendly conversation. The visitor acknowledges that he is young and has no accomplishments of note, but hopes he will have "achieved my destiny" before he dies and then "I shall have built my monument!" The father expresses the wish for a more humble legacy,
Suddenly, they are noticed by the sound of a much larger avalanche. They scream in fear of "The Slide!" and bolt outside for their safe place. But they are all caught up in the rock slide and killed, while the house is completely undamaged. Their bodies are swept away and never found.

[carpe diem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intr-un han la poalele muntelui, personaje din mai multe generatii dezbat aspecte legate de sensul vietii si fatetele confruntarii cu mortalitatea. Membrii familiei extinse sunt impacati in fata mortalitatii, simtindu-se protejati de valorile familiale. Tanarul vizitator este ambitios si spera obtinerea faimei intre timp. Cugetari sfatoase asupra carora imprevizibilul destinului cade ca un ciocan. Si pentru acest final am acordat si a treia stea, altfel tonul molcom, intelept nu e chiar pe gustul meu.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining listening 🎧
A will written American New England novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a cottage in Maine where the travelers stop on the way to the White Mountains. An event happens to end the lives of the people at the cottage. I would recommend to anyone looking for a quick read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎧 to novels. 📖😎✨🎉 2022

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hawthorne Hawks #1
Going to read the works of Hawthorne in the order that Fantastic Fiction has presented them, and this is the first one.
A short average yarn, oh which I won't remember much about, but signifies the beginning of a journey.

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atmospheric nothingness.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid writing. Pretty solid plot twist.

[Petra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was depressing.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all whose love Franconia Notch, this was charming.