His family and friends did not understand the depth of his dream to comprehend these mysteries and they found him to be quite an odd character. The narrator reveals that, "It is requisite for the ideal artist to possess a force of character that seems hardly compatible with its delicacy; he must keep his faith in himself while the incredulous world assails him with its utter disbelief; he must stand up against mankind and be his own sole disciple, both as respects his genius and the objects to which it is directed" (Hawthorne.271).
An unpleasant visit from Peter Hovenden, the old watchmaker, is enough "to torture Owen's soul with the bitterness of worldly criticism" (Hawthorne.272). This heavy weight upon his spirit prevented Owen from working on his dream. Owen, however, is in love with the old watchmaker's daughter, Annie. He believes that she is beautiful, the only person in the world who understands him, "and what a help and strength would it be to him in his lonely toil if he could gain the sympathy of the only being whom he loved" (Hawthorne.275)! She is open to his ideas and is to be trusted with his secret. .
Owen allows Annie to see his creation. Annie reached out to touch it and even though no damage was done to the butterfly Owen over reacts and believes it is ruined. The narrator points out that, "Even Annie Hovenden, possibly might not have disappointed him had she been enlightened by the deep intelligence of love" (Hawthorne.276). Every time there was a mistake in his mind or something happened to the butterfly, Owen would stop working on his project. There was no room in his mind or in his spirit for anything less than perfection.
Owen's pattern of work was similar to the cycle of the butterfly renewing itself each spring. He went into a cocoon himself working in the dark, trying to ignore the ticking of all the clocks around him and he drank a lot. He was trying to forget but could not, "even in the midst of his trouble, that all was but a delusion, the heavy anguish was his actual life" (Hawthorne.