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Chapter
The Departure
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Contents
The Departure
Section recap
What happens in The Departure.
In the final chapter, the long-standing curse on the Pyncheon family is lifted as the major characters leave the House of the Seven Gables behind. Judge Pyncheon is dead, Clifford and Hepzibah are freed from poverty and fear, and Holgrave and Phoebe announce their love and intention to marry. Uncle Venner and the others join the group as they prepare to move to the Judge's country estate. The gloomy old house is left empty, symbolizing the end of a cursed legacy rooted in greed and injustice.
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Why this page matters.
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Key moments
The beats worth remembering.
Holgrave Reveals His True Identity
Holgrave discloses that he is actually a descendant of the Maule family — the very line wronged by the original Colonel Pyncheon — which reframes his entire presence in the house and makes his romance with Phoebe a symbolic reconciliation of the two feuding families.
The Hidden Deed Is Discovered
A secret document hidden behind the portrait of Colonel Pyncheon is finally found. Ironically, the land claim the Pyncheons obsessed over for generations turns out to be worthless, exposing how the family's greed destroyed lives for nothing.
The Group Departs for the Country Estate
Clifford, Hepzibah, Phoebe, Holgrave, and Uncle Venner all leave the House of the Seven Gables together, heading toward a brighter future at the Judge's country property, marking a clean break from the house's dark history.
Evidence lanes
The moments you can actually use later.
Holgrave's Ancestry as Structural Irony
The revelation that the man living secretly in the Pyncheon house was a Maule descendant recontextualizes every earlier interaction and shows how the past quietly shaped the present throughout the novel.
The Worthless Parchment
The discovery that the ancient land claim hidden behind the Colonel's portrait has no legal or practical value anymore serves as a pointed symbol of how hollow the Pyncheon family's ambitions always were.
Section takeaways
What to carry forward.
The Curse Ends Through Union, Not Revenge
The Maule-Pyncheon conflict is resolved not by confrontation but by the marriage of Holgrave and Phoebe, suggesting that reconciliation and love are more powerful than inherited hatred or legal claims.
Greed Produces Nothing but Suffering
The worthless land deed reveals that generations of Pyncheon ambition, manipulation, and cruelty were built on an illusion — a strong argument for Hawthorne's moral that obsession with wealth and status corrupts and destroys.
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How this guide is built
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