Within the ghostly story, Hawthorne injects bits about the house creating a oneness between it the Judge. Hawthorne always refers to the chair that the Judge slouches in is an “oaken chair” and nothing less. This chapter alone makes at least three references to the “oaken chair” which seems to be one with the dead body. the Judge was sitting as still as an oak tree himself. Everything about the house seemed to be optimal or specially crafted for the Judges liking. This ads to the mystic of the house while setting off alarm bells of irony for the reader. Everyone knows how dangerous Judge Pyncheon was yet the narrator continues on praising him for his professional achievements and physical prowess. The narrator kept urging the Judge to budge and reminding him of all his responsibilities for the rest of the day. The needling of a dead man displays the disdain felt for the character of Judge Pyncheon.
The bit of knowledge that Hawthorne drops in this chapter that is of the utmost concern to this essay is learning of the Judge’s bid to become Governor. The narrator acknowledges the Judge’s commitments of the evening in mocking fashion. Urging the helpless dead body to rise and go to the banquet dinner that was so important to him. It is scary that the Judge was only hours away from rising up in power as the Governor. This instilled fear in the reader because the Judge was the main source of torment in both Clifford and Hepzibah’s life let alone the likely assailant of the old Jaffary Pyncheon.
