Judge Pyncheon sits slouched at the table and Hawthorne begins this ghostly chapter by saying that this dead man was simply "keeping house". The narrator carries on in the present tense stating "For the Judge is a prosperous man." The deeper into this ghostly dialog they continue, the more emphasis is laid upon what Hawthorne want the reader to remember about the character of Judge Pyncheon. This chapter is meant to be excruciating for the reader to tediously dwell on the vital statistics of a less than honorable man. It is meant to be ironic how the Judge is portrayed in this sequence by Hawthorne to be a stand up citizen. When the irony of the situation actually causes our stomachs to turn.
In a room that is completely still, there is one component that holds the tension high within the reader mind. That component is the steady ticking of the Judge's wristwatch. Hawthorne describes the sound that "has an effect of terror."
This small ticking seems to actually be driving the narrator insane and thus has the same effect on the reader. The narrator makes two separate mentions of the ticking watch and then finally explodes. "The Judge's quietude, as he cites invisible; and that pertinacious ticking of his watch!"
It is in these small details that the narrator's true feelings reveal themselves. The essence of the Judge is repulsing and annoying to Hawthorne. Hawthorne chooses the watch to be a ticking time bomb that symbolizes Judge Pyncheon's self implosion. The reader comes to a deeper understanding of how to feel about the Judge with each click as the seconds pass. Here is a photo of the table the Judge died at.
The narrator first spends time admiring the size of the Judge to try to instill some credibility which the reader rightfully throws aside. "The oaken chair, to be sure, may tempt him with his roominess." (269) The Judge was lying dead in the chair but Hawthorne wanted to play out this sequence. The Judge's body type was described in a way so glorified that he is portrayed as massive, dark, and strong man.
