In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne presents the tale of a young man from Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. One night, Brown accidentally witnesses a witches meeting in the forest where he sees the rest of the town, including his wife Faith, in attendance. This comes as quite a shock to Brown and the next morning but he cannot remember whether or not the scene was real of simply a dream. Regardless, from then on Brown lives his life in opposition to the rest of the town. Although it may seem that the meaning of the story comes simply from an evaluation of Brown himself, and the actions he takes against the towns people, more needs to be done to fully comprehend the totality of Hawthorne’s …show more content…
“Lies, self-righteousness, and gullibility can degrade a society” (Reynolds 53). Among the most blamed individuals during this time is Cotton Mather, author of The Wonders of the Invisible World, which is a detailed description of the accused witches of the Salem. There is evidence to believe that Hawthorne based much of “Young Goodman Brown” after the lives and writings of the Mather family. It seems that the Mathers, in their writings and sermons, caused an unwarranted worry of witchcraft among the Puritans. “The Salem witchcraft crisis was clearly inseparable from the figure of Cotton Mather in Hawthorne’s imagination” (Ronan 261). The workings of the Mather family, especially Cotton Mather, are categorized as simply lies given to the people of Salem; unfortunately, those individuals found truth in the words of the Mathers and believed in the witchcraft. This quickly formed gullibility can be shown through the opinions formed by Brown in the end. As mentioned earlier, Hawthorne accused the sudden obsession with witches and their evil deeds to the fact that many people believed any information given to them from the judges or ministers. This fact is mirrored in the actions taken by Brown the morning after the night in the forest. Brown has no recollection of whether or not the meeting actually happened, but regardless of this, he decides to assume that all the towns people are connected with the Devil and witchcraft. “A
She describes Goodman Brown as a Puritan that looked for trouble in the way that he went into the woods and had contact with the devil and much more with his own pride. Goodman Brown’s journey was more like a trip to an inferno or haunted scenario. Johnson mentions how Goodman Brown hears the hymns of hell but was actually similar to those from church. Another thing said is that Goodman Brown later sees people from Salem, like the minister, Goody Cloyse, and the Deacon. In reality or better said, inside Goodman Brown’s mindset those people could of have had connection with the devil and practice witchcraft. Goodman Brown belief is that one and he is set to confront all the evil spirits as a good Puritan, but he breaks down when he sees the pink ribbon in the sky that made him feel infamy in his wife Faith. Maybe the pink ribbon was a sign of innocence (WHITE) and guilt (RED.) After he begins losing his faith it is the time when we see Goodman Brown come down into his loss in God’s power and devils power over him and others. Johnson’s article helps out to understand more of what happened in the story and its connection to the Puritan religion aside from the feelings of man. I believe this article is supportive just not quite informal to looking more on Puritanism obsession with the
Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne were two American authors who were born over a century apart and shared the same love of literary works but in a sick and twisted kind of way. They were authors who simply wrote with passion about beliefs, sin, and the natural temptations of evil in all humans. The story of “Young Goodman Brown”, takes places at the end of the 17th century, around the time of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, in New England in colonial Massachusetts, Hawthorne’s keen interest which is sin-and-brimstone a Puritans past.
The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate the types of characters present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.
In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the fragility of humans when it comes to their morality. Goodman Brown goes on a journey through the forest with the devil to watch the witches’ ritual and observes the evil in the Puritan society. He loses his faith as he sees the people he respects the most participating in the sinful ritual. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes setting, and symbolism in his short story “Young Goodman Brown,” to show how a person’s perspective can change by showing the hypocritical nature of the Puritan society
Though Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author of many great works, his short story “Young Goodman Brown” still stays relevant because it has themes and subjects that are relatable in today 's world. In the story “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown leaves his wife Faith, to go into the woods near Salem to have a meeting with the devil. Appearance vs. reality is shown in “Young Goodman Brown” through the plot, the character of Goody Cloyse, and the symbol of the maple staff.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short novel “Young Goodman Brown” was published in 1835. Hawthorne was born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, a village still saturated by its 17th century Puritanism. His father died when he was just four years old, he was left to be rastised by his mother and sister along with aunts. It was Hawthorne’s maternal side of the families that were supportive and watched over him to make sure that he finished college and he went on to become the first one in his family to do this (Turner 33). Hawthorne had put himself through twelve years of isolation in the top floor room of his mother’s house. Hawthorne wanted to make sure that he mastered the art of writing. He was researching the history of England when he discovered his family’s connection to the Salem witch trials and his puritan heritage. Hawthorne
The story of ?Young Goodman Brown? exemplifies the struggle of one man?s internal conflict of good and evil. The main character, Goodman Brown, leaves Salem village and his wife, Faith, to travel into the depths of the dark forest. The Young Goodman Brown will be aged with the knowledge he faces in this one night. Brown keeps his appointment with the devil in the forest, and he must choose to go back to his ?faith,? or explore the evils that the devil has to offer. Next, Brown is confronted with the virtuous people who live in his community, who will be attending the witch?s meeting with the devil. He has to decide if he will follow them along this
Even though faith is generally used in a positive connotation, Nathaniel Hawthorne knows that faith can be weaponized and used to prosecute adversaries, as it was in the Salem Witch Trials. He had great family history and personal guilt surrounding the events because his grandfather was the only judge who partook in the trials that did not repent for his perpetrations. He wrote this controversial story to invert the trials and made the narrator convict faith and the community instead. The short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an allegory that is anchored by the character Faith, Young Goodman Brown’s wife. Faith is both his innocent and angelic physical wife, and a representation
In the story of Young Goodman Brown, as a reader we see many circumstances where Hawthorne uses irony in straightforward situations. I have learned from reading several of the author’s works that it is up to the reader to decide the meaning behind his stories. In this paper, I will be discussing the significance of the title, Young Goodman Brown and how I believe there is more to the story than what Hawthorne writes. Young Goodman Browns journey within the forest revealed truths not only within him, but within human nature and society. On page, 1103 Goodman Brown states “there may be a devilish Indian behind every tree.”
The conflict between Goodman Brown and Salem, Massachusetts stems from Goodman Browns Puritan upbringing and the fact that he is young and naïve. During this time period, Salem was mostly inhabited by Puritans who are narrow minded and religious. Because Puritan’s lives revolve around religion it gives the illusion that they are all good people who would never step out of line or do anything wrong intentionally. One
In Young Goodman Brown the theme is not only centered on religious hypocrisy (falsely claiming to have certain religious morals) but also on the internal conflicts of Young Good Man Brown. A basic rundown of the story is that one fateful evening Young Good Man Brown decides to attend a meeting of the black Sabbath. On the way there he come across various people who are also on there way there .These include the devil, Goody Cloys (his catechism teacher), deacon Gookin and the local minister. At the ceremony as he is initiated into the group he sees his wife who is also a
In the short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is a certain uncertainty, deviousness, and a riddle of wrongdoing living within the citizens of Salem. Young Goodman Brown, a very naive person, is ruined when he realizes the hypocrisy of his religion as he witnesses the truth in the middle of Salem woods. His own people worshipping a being that is not God! Ironically, when Brown confronts his fellow townspeople, he is angered by their responses; they seem to have no recollection of what occurred in the woods. Thus leaving him in a state of insanity, where all Brown senses around him are lies. The natural impulse to keep secrets and lies can harm others. This is embodied in Young Goodman Brown, who goes from a typical puritan to an unkind, judgmental, depressed man.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” (repr. in Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 8th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 2002] 316) is a short story with strong Puritan influence. Puritanism is a religion demanding strict moral conduct and strong faith. Puritans held that Christians should do only what the Bible commanded. Analyzing “Young Goodman Brown” is dependant upon understanding the Puritan faith. The influence of the Puritan religion is vivid in literary elements such as setting, allegory, and theme.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of “Young Goodman Brown,” was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. Hawthorne, born into a Puritan family who was struggling financially, had never met his father. He had died when Hawthorne was but a boy of four years old. This, along with embarrassments brought upon by other ancestors, seemed to affect his writing and perhaps even inspired parts of “Young Goodman Brown.” Hawthorne had one ancestor, a Puritan judge, who persecuted Quakers, and another, who had taken part in the Salem Witch Hysteria (Meyer 322). Both of these were mentioned, or hinted upon, in the story of “Young Goodman Brown.”
Given Nathaniel Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that Young Goodman Brown is a critique of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one the judges who presided over the Salem Witch trials. Some of the principle motifs that run through Hawthorne's works are hidden sin, the supernatural, and the influence of evil. Ironically enough, puritanism is also a part of those tales. What then is the moral/ philosophical import of Young Goodman Brown? It suggests, in an allegorical sense, that puritanism is a deceptive religion that creates a false