Dr. Bullivant

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Dr. Bullivant by Nathaniel HawthorneAuthor: Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2005

Editor's review

"Dr. Bullivant" is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is brief, yet it continues his enduring concerns: the hidden motives of characters, the ambiguous zones of moral judgment, and the tensions lurking beneath seemingly calm everyday life. The story revolves around a doctor; the narration is restrained, the release of information measured, and readers must piece together the characters' true situations between the lines. Unlike a novel, it does not lay out a world but concentrates its force in a few scenes and conversations, making it well suited for appreciating Hawthorne's restraint and suggestiveness in short fiction. For readers familiar with The Scarlet Letter, it offers a lighter, more concentrated window; for those encountering Hawthorne for the first time, it can serve as a low-threshold entry point before deciding whether to go deeper into his longer works. The English original is short enough to be read in one sitting and then revisited in key passages.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want an initial sense of Hawthorne's narrative style
Readers who enjoy short fiction and value psychological and moral suggestion
Students and instructors preparing for courses in American literature
English readers with limited time who want to finish a piece in one sitting

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plot, clear endings, and rapid reversals
Readers who prefer long-form world-building and multi-strand narration
Readers impatient with nineteenth-century English syntax and indirect expression

Reading tips

Read through once following the plot, then revisit the dialogue for hints and gaps.
While reading, note the symbolic weight of the doctor's professional identity rather than focusing only on events.
Read alongside other Hawthorne stories to observe his consistent handling of moral themes.
After finishing, retell the characters' motives in your own words to test whether you have grasped the text's suggestions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this without having read other works by Hawthorne?

Yes. It is a standalone short story that does not depend on prior background. Its length and restrained narration actually make it a suitable entry point for first-time Hawthorne readers, who can first get a sense of his language and thematic orientation before deciding whether to read longer works such as The Scarlet Letter.

What makes this story difficult to read?

The difficulty lies less in vocabulary than in the narrative's indirectness. Hawthorne often does not state motives directly but suggests them through dialogue and detail, so readers must actively infer. Nineteenth-century syntax also tends to be long; it is advisable to slow down and pause to reflect after each paragraph rather than rushing.

Is it suitable for classroom discussion or book clubs?

Yes. It is short enough to read in a single session and leaves considerable room for interpretation, especially regarding character motives and moral judgment. Organizers can prepare several open-ended questions in advance to guide participants back to textual details rather than staying at the level of plot summary.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist known for his engagement with Puritan tradition and moral allegory. He wrote about sin, guilt, confession, and social prejudice in a restrained style with vivid imagery, often using historical settings and legendary tales to reveal the subtleties of human nature. The collection here holds 98 of his works, including the frequently translated novel The Scarlet Letter, the short-story collection Twice-Told Tales, and children's books drawn from myth and legend such as A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys, Tanglewood Tales, The Gorgon's Head, and The Three Golden Apples, showing his dual interest in New England history and classical myth. His writing has had a lasting influence on American literature's treatment of conscience and identity. Publicly available details of his life are limited, so they are not elaborated here.