Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer, delivers a quintessentially dark short story in the form of "Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure". Originally published in 1838 and is part of Hawthorne's short story collection Twice-Told Tales, "Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure" follows the eponymous Peter Goldthwaite as he tears his family home apart from top to bottom, spurning all good advice and lucrative alternatives, in search of treasure that has purportedly been stashed somewhere within the structure by his ancestor. This moral tale is at once a psychological and satirical illustration of greed, obstinacy, and madness.