Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of a family whose riches are tainted by their prior wrongdoings in The House of the Seven Gables. Over numerous generations, the children bear the sins of the ancestors until one of the descendants reconciles with a member of the family he has offended. Love triumphs over hatred and the original sin are erased by new blood. Thus, via the life of the Pynchon family in their dismal, desolate, seven-gabled New England mansion, Hawthorne explores guilt, retribution, and atonement in this work.