Instructor: Ms.

Rabia Sultana
Story: The Hollow of the Three Hills
RAHBER SCHOOL OF LAW, RSOL Pattoki

The Hollow of the Three Hills by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Summary of the story

The Hollow of the Three Hills by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a young woman who
becomes overcome with grief and sadness and goes to a withered witch to learn what has
happened to her family. The witch shows her three different visions of reality. In the first one,
she sees her parents who are talking about how much disappointed they are in her. The
second vision is of her husband who is seen weeping at her funeral. The third one shows her
own son to her, who she sees has died and his coffin is being carried to his grave.
Questions
1. What are the important symbols present in the story 'The Hollow of the Three
Hills'?
2. Thematic concerns of the short story?
3. How does Hawthorn present death in 'The Hollow of Three Hills'?
4. In "The Hollow of the Three Hills," what is Hawthorne's purpose, and how does
he shape the plot, tone, characterization, and setting to fulfil it?
5. Discuss the main character of the story 'The Hollow of the Three Hills'?
6. Discuss ways in which Story explores self discovery?
7. Comment on the ways Hawthorne developed suspense in this story?
Question no 1:
Symbolism
This is a very short tale, but rich in symbolism. In the opening paragraph, which is a little
long, Hawthorne manages to lay the foundation for all the symbols that manifest in the story.
First are the two women, one young and one old. They represent the maid and crone
aspects of the triple goddess. But also, they represent the past and present for the older
woman. The younger woman symbolises the memories of the older. The choices that were
made when the woman was young led her to her place now. So when the crone conjures
dark memories of the young woman’s past, she is essentially reliving her own memories,
which will lead to her liberation from the bonds of guilt and shame.
The next symbol we encounter is the three hills. The three hills represent the three
memories which the crone conjures for the young woman. Each of the hills is a painful
memory and represents separation, symbolic death (think grave mound). The young woman
severed connections with parents, then with husband, and finally with child. In Hawthorne’s
time, the only way a woman could be free was to shake off all bonds to family.
Next, we see that the setting of the story is in October. This represents the time of reaping.
We all must reap what we sow, and the young woman must face up to the decisions that she
made.
Finally, we have the symbol of the fallen tree. This represents the woman’s lineage, or family
tree. When Hawthorne writes that there is “no green successor from its roots,” it is a
metaphor for the fact that the woman no longer has any family or children to carry on her
bloodline. Like the tree, she will just get old and decay.
This story contains symbols like the holy trinity. Examples based on the story are the three
hills and the three visions of the young lady.
October: it is known as the month of death. At the beginning of the story, the woman has her
first vision of her daughter's funeral. And in order to obtain the witch's help, she needs to
give up her own life.
Instructor: Ms. Rabia Sultana
Story: The Hollow of the Three Hills
RAHBER SCHOOL OF LAW, RSOL Pattoki

Autumn: it symbolises death since it’s the time of the year when nature dies or is about to
die. Some quotes that help us understand this are, ¨a tree fell¨, which represents death, and
¨no green¨, which means there is no life.

Answer Question no 4: Nathaniel Hawthorne's purpose is to show how wrong and

unnatural it is for a woman to leave her family. He achieves this purpose by showing a
woman in unnatural, evil circumstances grieving until she dies.The woman who approaches
the crone is beautiful but despondent. She's young, but her heart is heavy. Showing that her
leaving has already filled her with regret and dissatisfaction is one way that Hawthorne
shows the wrongness of her actions. She approaches the crone, who appears to be
otherworldly and evil from her words and actions. The setting is otherworldly, which shows
the nature of the woman's sins. Hawthorne says that other people can't see where the two
women meet. The crone says there's a limited amount of time that she can show the young
woman those she left behind. It's an uncomfortable, unwelcoming setting, which could be a
metaphor for the world the woman faces once she's left the warm embrace of her family.
Instead, she dies after seeing the sadness of her loved ones.
The entire tone of the story is focused on the woman's despair and the unhappiness of those
she left behind. It's stark and punishing. Hawthorne uses the tone to show that the woman's
actions are wrong. Her parents and husband are grieving. Her child has died. Her actions
are what caused everyone's misery. It's implied that things would be different and better if
she hadn't left.
Answer Question no 6:
This short story 'The Hollow of the Three Hills' by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about the self
discovery of the young lady who is " graceful of form and fair of features but smitten with an
untimely blight". She remains an enigma as she herself was a mystery. The young lady flees
from her home leaving her dying child. She thinks that by doing so she would get rid of all
her responsibilities and sufferings. But it was her illusion as this act causes great deal of
agony and anxiety for the you lady. It was her presumption that she could survive without her
parents, husband and child but as soon as she left them, she realized that it is not possible
for her to live without them. So in order to know about her loved ones, she meets an old
crone, "withered hag" in a place, "masses of decaying wood" which was "once a resort as a
power of evil" to gain the knowledge of her actions and that explores self discovery. The old
crone or witch assures her that at the cost of her life she would show her the visions of her
family. It should be pointed out that the ideas or knowledge she seeks is not necessarily that
of knowledge pertaining to her loved ones. Consequently, it is the revelation of that
knowledge in the form of visions that reveals striking amount to the young lady. Thus through
revisiting her actions and repercussions, the young lady discovers something about herself.

Question no 8:
Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Hollow of the Three Hills' develops suspense in the very
opening line as the "strange old times" introduces the unknown. This unknown is
strengthened by Hawthorne's introduction of the concept of reality and fantasy merging into
one, a setting in which "madmen's reveries" were "amongst the actual circumstances of life";
Hawthorne's use of a world of the abnormal, or rather, the supernatural is thus built. This
combination of setting in time and the need for the story to be completed in "one hour"
create anticipation; the time running out therefore builds suspense.
Instructor: Ms. Rabia Sultana
Story: The Hollow of the Three Hills
RAHBER SCHOOL OF LAW, RSOL Pattoki

Furthermore, the use of a "decaying" and desolate setting contributes to the mystery: as "no
mortal could observe them" in this place. Hawthorne creates an ominous mood through the
use of negative metaphors and images referring to death. "Brown grass" and a hollow
devoid of growth not only contribute to this mood but foreshadow events to come. Therefore,
the dark and desolate mood not only accentuate the mystery but through the foreshadowing
of the setting itself, its significance creates suspense.

Question no 2 & 3:
Themes: There are alot of themes present in this short story. For example: death, regret,
guilt and remorse, the supernatural, anxiety and curiosity, dishonour and deceit.
One of the greatest terrors of the human mind is death. Death hovers over us, holding a
ticking clock which counts down the time that we have left before we join him.
Subconsciously, all humans can hear this clock from the moment we truly understand who
Death represents- the end. This understanding guides our actions while we are alive.
Humans try to be the best they can in order to be able to reflect back in the end with a sense
of accomplishment. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “The Hollow of Three Hills,” is an
example of the reflection that humans go through before giving themselves to Death. The
Lady has died and in the state of limbo (the border between Life and Death) she meets the
Crone.The Crone takes the form of a corrupted Psychopomp. Psychopomps are
mythological creatures who guide souls to the afterlife. The most commonly known
Psychopomps are Hermes from Greek mythology and Anubis from Egyptian mythology
(Strong). She is corrupted because Psychopomps are not supposed to judge the souls for
their actions in the living. The Crone clearly enjoys the pain and suffering of The Lady as she
“[chuckles] to herself” after the visions (Hawthorne 4). Their meeting place, “three little hills
[that] stood near each other,” is where The Lady’s soul will meet Death.

Opening: The story begins with two persons meeting together at a certain time and place: at
the hollow of the three hills during the sunset. One was an old woman who apparented to be
mean and ill, she was a witch. The other woman was a graceful lady that looked pale and
troubled. The opening also describes the place where they met, which was isolated, and the
time of the year, which was October. The opening is really effective because it describes the
place where the two women met in detail, and the reader can see, imagine and understand
it. The quote, ¨dwarf pines were numerous upon the hills¨ describes the three hills so you
can imagine the place where they met. Another quote, ¨one of these masses of decaying
wood, formerly a majestic oak, rested clos beside a pool of green and sluggish water at the
bottom of the basin¨, this quote describes the place that was filled with tree-trunks that had

fallen with time and that there was a little lake at the bottom of the hills. Moreover, it
describes the time of the day: sunset, which is the moment of revelation. Yes, I think that the
story begins mid-drama because the woman escaped her home and was very troubled, she
felt very guilty. The story is in 1st person limited, and it is in present tense, but the lady felt
guilty and had a conflict with her past.

Setting:
Time: it was during the 1800s. It was October and it was twilight. The following quote, ¨there
was nothing but the brown grass of October¨, it tells us that the time of the year was October,
Instructor: Ms. Rabia Sultana
Story: The Hollow of the Three Hills
RAHBER SCHOOL OF LAW, RSOL Pattoki

so it was autumn. We can also tell that it was autumn because it says ¨the chill beauty of an
autumnal sunset¨, it describes nature at that time of the year.
Place: The hollow of the three hills, a desolate place, ¨no mortal could observe them¨, this
quote points out that no one was there, that that place was completely isolated.
Resultado de imagen para the hollow of the three hills

Question no 5:
Characters:
● The young lady: she was graceful, though pale and troubled. With the word pale we
can understand that she is sick, ill or about to die; and the word troubled makes us
think that she has mental health problems. The young woman arrives in the titular
hollow between the three hills after having abandoned her family, and she seeks
audience with the old crone in order to see how her loved ones are faring without her.
Though the young woman is the story’s protagonist, she is a morally ambiguous and
rather mysterious figure. The narration reveals very little about her personality or
motives beyond the fact that she feels intense guilt over her actions and is willing to
sacrifice her life to the crone in order to lift the weight of her shame.

● The old woman: she was poorly dressed and was very ugly. She was very old so she
looked shrunken and seemed to be ill. She was a witch who helped the young lady
that was looking for closure, however, she ended up taking her life. The old crone is
an ancient and wicked sorceress who meets with the young woman in the titular
hollow between the three hills. The young woman has betrayed her family, and the
old crone—at the young woman’s request—grants her three visions, each one
detailing how this betrayal has torn her family apart. The old crone is a purely evil
and unholy force, depicted using prayers “that were not meant to be acceptable in
Heaven” and taking several opportunities to taunt the young woman over her grief.
Due to the old crone’s blatantly malevolent nature and the fact that she refers to the
young woman’s ordeal and ultimate death as “a sweet hour’s sport,” the truthfulness
of the old crone’s “visions” is questionable at best.

Gothic Elements:
The Hollow of the Three Hills is a gothic story. We can say this because of the gothic
elements found in the story. The following are the gothic elements:
● An atmosphere of mystery and unknown
● Omens, portents, visions
● ENvironment – far from civilization, dark and isolated
● The supernatural – unexplained manifestations
● High emotion- Characters often overcome with anger, sorrow, surprise and especially
terror, raw nerves and a feeling of impending doom, breathing heavily and crying
● Women in distress – lonely, terrified, fainting, sobbing
● Romance – unreturned love
● Claustrophobia – the women’s urge to flee