The Great Stone Face

"The Great Stone Face" is a short story published by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850. Hawthorne sets the scene in a rural valley located in an unnamed U.S. state that resembles New Hampshire. A rock formation in a nearby notch is imagined, by many locals and visitors, to resemble the shape and features of a human face: The Great Stone Face, then, was a work of Nature in her mood of majestic playfulness, formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some immense rocks, which had been thrown together in such a position as, when viewed at a proper distance, to precisely to resemble the features of the human countenance. It seemed as if an enormous giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. There was the broad arch of the forehead, a hundred feet in height. . . . The local folklore of the valley includes a prophecy, alleged to descend from the Native Americans, that at some future date a native son would be born within sight of the notch whose features would resemble the Great Stone Face; and when this face was seen, those who would see him would recognize that he was "the greatest and noblest personage of his time." This prophecy inspires an innocent youngster of the valley, Ernest, who feels within himself the quest to help uncover this hero.