Nathaniel Hawthorne 
A Rill from the Town Pump 

‘A Rill from the Town Pump’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story told from the perspective of a water pump. It contains reflections on how it transformed from merely being a stream used by the Native Americans to becoming a puddle and later turning into a well and pump. Though experimental in nature, Hawthorne uses this framework to examine America’s history and development as a nation over the years.