In the opening pages, Hawthorne provides historical context for the story. There was a sudden and general movement in the room, which Robin interpreted as expressing the eagerness of each individual to become his guide. Nathaniel Hawthorne often explored political and religious themes in his works, and in his short story "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," he brings the two together. In it, the young Robin travels to America to find his uncle, who is the governor in Boston. The story is set in New England before the American Revolution. Robin soon finds him, and when he does, he learns a lesson about life in the Colonies. At the end of the first paragraph, Hawthorne tells the […] Sometimes genius gives a preview of itself; Hawthorne’s “My Kinsman Major Molineux” is a fine example of this. "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" is a short story written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1831. National Humanities Center Nathaniel Hawthorne, “My Kinsman, Major Molineux,” short story, 1830 3 hastened his steps to overtake it. It first appeared in the 1832 edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, published by Samuel Goodrich.It later appeared in The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1852. As Robin drew nigh, he saw that the passenger was a man in years, with a full periwig of grey hair, a wide-skirted coat of dark … Literary Context of My Kinsman, Major Molineux. Though the Revolutionary War will not begin until 1775, tension is already building, especially in the fast-growing city of Boston. Nathaniel Hawthorne was very important to America’s early literature. The historical introduction here serves to establish the setting as a time of bitter resentment toward Massachusetts colonial governors. Great supplemental information for school essays and homework projects. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" is a short story written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1831. TEACHING HAWTHORNE TEACHING HAWTHORNE'S "MY KINSMAN, MAJOR MOLINEUX" WILLIAM BYSSHE STEIN A specialist in Hawthorne (see his Hawthorne's Faust, 19S53), Professor Stein has also pub-lished extensively on Melville, James, Conrad, and Santayana in Accent, ELH, and Amer-ican Literature. It first appeared in the 1832 edition of The Token and Atlantic Souvenir, published by Samuel Goodrich.It later appeared in The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Hawthorne published in 1852 by Ticknor, Reed & Fields. Essay ideas, study questions and discussion topics based on important themes running throughout My Kinsman, Major Molineux by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Discussion of themes and motifs in Nathaniel Hawthorne's My Kinsman, Major Molineux. Published in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir (1832), when Hawthorne was twenty-eight, it possesses the symbolic resonance, the use of gothic imagery adapted to a vivid colonial atmosphere that characterizes the best of his short fiction to come. My present business," continued he, speaking with lofty confidence, "is merely to inquire my way to the dwelling of my kinsman, Major Molineux."