Nathaniel Hawthorne 
John Inglefield’s Thanksgiving 

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “John Inglefield’s Thanksgiving”, describes the Thanksgiving dinner of a New England blacksmith and his family. Two chairs sit empty, one for John Inglefield’s recently deceased wife, and another for daughter Prudence. Prudence’s sudden and unexpected appearance causes consternation at first, then increasing joy as the family is reunited with the prodigal daughter. But what is the cause of the unspoken distance between Prudence and her family?

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Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 – 1864) was an acclaimed American novelist. He was born Nathaniel Hathorne in Salem, Massachusetts, though he added a w to his name to distance himself from his family’s involvement in the infamous Salem witch trials of the 1690s. The trials, along with Puritan culture in general, greatly influenced his writings. He is best remembered for his hallmark novels The House of Seven Gables, and The Scarlet Letter.