Analysis “Godfather Death"

  There is no end to the ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”; this essay hopes to explore this problem.

        Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale “Young Goodman Brown” is replete, is saturated, with irony. This essay will amply illustrate the validity of this statement.

When coming face to face with death, people tend to think about previous thoughts and actions that led them to their current situation. In most cases, there is a particular moment in time that ultimately decides the fate of an individual for the rest of his or her life. Actions such as

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a prominent 19th-century American author who is widely regarded for his adequate contributions to revolutionizing modern day literature. In his three works: Young Goodman Brown, The Birthmark, and Rappachini’s Daughter, Hawthorne uses a myriad of techniques and stylistic traits to portray ideologies and create interest within the readers. In his short stories, Hawthorne flawlessly conveys his erudition on modern themes of psychology and the human inclination to sin through his astute use of ambiguity and symbolism.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, “Young Goodman Brown,” is rich in symbolism, as this essay will amply illustrate.

literary devices such as point of view and symbolism to give it a more dramatic effect and

Hawthorne's work is often linked with Puritanism and the Puritans. His short story “Young Goodman Brown” is no exception as it is a critique of Puritan morality. Hawthorne uses the central character Young Goodman Brown as his mouthpiece to voice his concerns and displeasure with the Puritan faith. Hawthorne constructs and then deconstructs Brown throughout the short story. Brown first appears innocent and through his journey into the forest he becomes corrupt, revealing as to what Puritanism professes but seldom practices.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” ELT107 Analyzing Prose: Short Fiction and Essays—Short Stories. Singapore: UniSIM, 2010. 21-30. Print.

When clarifying an audience, one must keep in mind the general vocabulary used, the content of the story, and the length of the book to keep it appropriate for certain age groups; it is important to mention the number of words used in the original manuscript, for many agents are not willing to accept a book with more than 120,000 words for a first time author. Later, when the synopsis are composed, it is important that it be no more than nine sentences long. Within these nine sentences, the main character should be mentioned along with a captivating summary of the plot. The main idea being to convince the agent that they want to read more. “One thing a writer should never do”, according to the author of Dead Pigs in the Sun, “is call their work a masterpiece, because it’s not.” There is always room for improvement, and a writer should never assume their work is perfect, but only acceptable. Whether or not the book is a masterpiece is determined by a literary

Nathaniel Hawthorne Critiques Puritan Society in His Works, Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter

Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2010.

To come by a clear notion of the theme of  “Young Goodman Brown” is no easy task, thanks to the confusing style of the author. As A.N. Kaul says in the “Introduction” to Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays:

One of the most important aspects of a work of fiction is the development and use of characters. Edgar Allen Poe and Ernest Hemingway are two of the best writers at developing intriguing characters that serve many purposes, and have subsequently been analyzed for decades. Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” are two prime examples of brilliant character development and usage. Poe and Hemingway develop and utilize their characters in varying ways. For example, while Poe’s characters in “The Cask of Amontillado” have symbolic first names, Hemingway’s characters in “Hills Like White Elephants” do not even have their first names mentioned. Poe and Hemingway prove in their respective works that characters can serve purposes far beyond simply executing the actions that take place in the work.

  “Almost all literary theorists since Aristotle have emphasized the importance of structure, conceived in diverse ways, in analyzing a work of literature” (Abrams 300). This essay will explore some interesting points in the structure of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” considering the time-frame, foreshadowing, suspenseful incidents, climax and denouement (Axelrod 337).

The biographical background of Nathaniel Hawthorne offers some valuable insights about his writing styles and even partially with the story itself. Nathaniel