Hawthorne uses one of his major themes again in Roger Malvin's Burial, guilt. This guilt keeps plaguing Reuben, the main character, throughout the entire story. This guilt is caused by the abandonment of his dying friend, Roger Malvin, in order to save himself. This guilt also leads him back to the very same spot later in his life to disburden himself from his conscience.

Reuben's abandoning of Roger is justified in most every way by Hawthorne (Bloom 73). Roger tells Reuben to leave him behind and that it is stupid that two people would die instead of one. Hawthorne does this for a reason. Even though it is justified, Reuben feels like a murderer and a parricide (Crews 32). He feels this way due to the father and son like relationship that had grown between Roger and Reuben. This relationship of father and son is what allows Reuben to free...