The Man of Adamant (From: "The Snow Image and Other Twice-Told Tales")

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"The Man of Adamant" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story first published in 1837. Richard Digby abandons society to live as a hermit in a remote cave, convinced his philosophy alone is correct. When a ghostly visitor pleads with him to rejoin mankind and save his ailing heart, he refuses her compassion. His isolation leads to a terrifying transformation that will seal his fate forever in stone.