THE SCARLET LETTER The Custom House: Hawthorne says that he writes to the whole world hoping that someone will understand what he is talking about. He goes on to speak about Salem, where his relatives have lived and died since its existence. Over time Salem has become more of an instinct to his family, and has tried to escape, but always come back. His children were not born in Salem because he wanted to break free of the tradition. He compares people to plants in that if you do not transplant, future crops will be ruined. He descries his fore ....