Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Short Story, ‘The Great Stone Face’

"Old Man in the Mountain." A good and kind man resembles a giant image in Hawthorne's short story. Neil Bowman/Shutterstock

When we know that good things are destined for us, the waiting can be difficult to endure. Yet patience and humility can help lift the burden of the wait.

In his short story, “The Great Stone Face,” Nathaniel Hawthorne follows young Ernest who, along with the people of the valley, awaits the fulfillment of a prophecy. They sometimes don’t see what others of great insight can appreciate.

The Prophecy

Like all of his neighbors, little Ernest grows up knowing the prophesy of the Great Stone Face, the perpendicular side of a mountain which resembles the profile of a giant. The decades-old prophecy states that “a child should be born hereabouts, who is destined to become the greatest and noblest personage of his time, and whose countenance, in manhood, should bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face.”

The Man in the Mountain itself proves to be a friend to the young boy. Every day Ernest gazes at the mountain and the face that protrudes from it. He stares, absorbed, almost as if the mountain is speaking to him.

The years pass and Ernest grows “from a happy yet often pensive child ... to be a mild, quiet, unobtrusive boy, and sun-browned with labor in the fields, but with more intelligence ... [than] many lads who have been taught at famous schools. Yet Ernest [has] had no teacher, save only that the Great Stone Face [becomes] one to him.”

The Candidates

One day, news spreads that the prophecy has finally come true. Mr. Gathergold, a previous inhabitant of the town, is returning to build a magnificent home for himself with all of his accrued riches. Could he be the fulfillment of the prophecy?

When Gathergold arrives, everyone gathers in the streets, exclaiming that his face definitely resembles the Great Stone Face. But Ernest sees nothing in Gathergold’s visage that resembles the image in the mountain.

Soon people discover that Gathergold doesn’t fulfill the prophecy, so they look to another candidate, General Blood-and-Thunder, who arrives. Despite the praise and adulation people heap on the general, Ernest sees no resemblance to the Great Stone Face.

General Blood-and-Thunder also fails to fulfill the prophecy. Everyone now looks expectantly for the next candidate, Old Stony Phiz. Old Stony Phiz proves to be another candidate who doesn’t resemble the Great Stone Face.

Time passes. Ernest has patiently, humbly, and hopefully waited for the prophecy’s fulfillment and gradually earned the white hair and wrinkles of old age. One day, a poet of renown comes to visit him; the poet has heard of Ernest’s admirable character and positive influence on the town.

Through this story, Hawthorne demonstrates how patience and humility affects an individual. Ernest’s neighbors begin to understand that the prophecy they desire might already be fulfilled in their valley.

Just like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ernest encourages us: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” By contemplating the wisdom and virtue found in the Great Stone Face, Ernest becomes more and more like nature, patient and humble.

With such individuals among us, we must not only seek to emulate them, but also recognize them. The good people that we wish to enjoy life with may live right next door.

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