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Too Close to God, Too Far From Man In the short story , by Nathaniel Hawthorne, lusts for knowledge that leads him on a quest for the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin, as one may interpret, is pride and self-gain. It is a loss of the brotherhood with man, a ....

Middle of Essay
.... in the eyes of the townsfolk. His peers see him as a man who has spent too long a time alone in front of the kiln. Stories arise; such as he "conversed with Satan himself in the lurid blaze of thus very kiln."(356) His search for self-gain leaves him detached from the world of mortals. steps into the world of gods, when he learns of the unpardonable sin, and yet he has not left the realm of man. He has eaten the forbidden fruit. He lives in a human world but cannot tell of the unpardonable sin. He is too proud or feels the burden is too great for any other. He is not welcome into society. He is mocked when he returns. He learns that one may be happy ....