Goodman Brown Faith Symbol

In Young Goodman Brown one of the most important symbolisms is Faith, Brown’s wife, Faith represents he’s actual faith in god. When Goodman Brown was heading into the forest, he still has her, but as the story unravels it becomes clearer that Faith is not who she seems. Hawthorne makes Faith seem young and innocent when he describes her: "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap". Brown knew her as someone who he could trust and care for, just like his actual faith in god. As the story goes on, Brown heads into the forest,

When Brown finally reaches the meeting of the townspeople, his hope rises again because his wife Faith, whom he expects to see is not there. However, she soon unfortunately joins him and the others whom are about to undergo initiation. They are the “only pair, as it seemed who were yet hesitating on the verge of wickedness in the dark world” (Hawthorne). They stare at each other in frightened anticipation, and for the last time Brown calls out for help: “Faith! Faith!...Look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one” (Hawthorne). But “whether Faith obeyed he knew

Young Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, is also an important symbol in this story. Her name alone implies that she is a symbol for goodness and the Christian life that Young Goodman Brown leaves behind when he departs on his journey. In the story, it says that she calls out to him and he turns his back on her, which can either be taken literally or in the sense of one turning his back on God and Christian life, because he heads for the woods, an implication of sin and witchcraft. In her hair, Faith wears pink ribbons, which are a sign of her innocence and playfulness. When Goodman Brown sees her pink ribbons in her hair, he is aware of her innocence, so when he finds a pink ribbon belonging to her clinging to a tree branch in the woods, he doubts the faith of her and of all those around him.

In the story “Young Goodman Brown,” the character Brown is a religious man who lives fully on his faith, spiritually and physically. Faith was also the name of his wife, which could be taken as symbolism for his actual faith that was in his life. As it says in the book “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named…” He uses his “Faith” to go about the world. He uses Faith to guide him throughout the way that he lives his life continuously. Another ironic aspect in the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” is how they are in the town of Salem which is known for various reasons. One main reason is that Salem is where the famous Witch Trials had taken place. The Witch Trials became a huge part of American history because of the countless Puritans that were sentenced to death for being accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, witchcraft being pure evil goes against every part of the Puritan religion.

One of the biggest use of symbolism that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses in this story is the character’s names, the ones I am going to discuss are Faith and Goodman Brown. “But where is Faith?” Thought Goodman Brown; and, as hope came into his heart, he trembled” (Hawthorne 7). The way Hawthorne wrote that sentence has two meanings in my eyes. The first way you can take it is that Goodman Brown is looking for Faith his wife and becomes filled with hope that she isn’t there in that place. What I see

Notably Faith, the protagonist’s wife, plays a huge role as an allegory and a symbol throughout Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” In this story Faith’s name plays as an allegory. At first this could easily be missed because it sounds like a common name for a woman, but once the readers get further into the story they realize that her name plays an enormous role in the story’s plot. Faith’s name symbolizes Brown’s faith in God. In the story when Brown meets the man in the forest the man says, “You are late Goodman Brown,” and Brown replies, “Faith kept me back awhile” (Hawthorne 330). At this point of the story the audience knows for

“Young Goodman Brown” is set right after the Salem Witch Trials and much of the story is based on the ideology of that era. Faith is clearly meant to represent Goodman Brown’s tether to Puritanism. Hawthorne gives us a flashing sign for this in only the second sentence “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named...” (315). This quote is fairly self-explanatory, but it is a bold message to pay attention to the character Faith and how she related to faith. Another description of the role of Faith, in Mr. Brown’s life, is in the form of the subtle wording he uses when talking to the devil. “ ‘Faith kept me back a while,’replied the young man,” (316) This quote may seem to be referring to Faith the character keeping him back a while, but with deeper inspection one can conclude that it references faith, as in his religion, kept him away from the sinful journey on which he is currently embarking. Another little key in the story is how Mr. Brown addresses his wife. “My love and my Faith,” (315). The faith in question is not the wife’s name, but instead he is calling his wife his faith or the holy that he believes in. The last quote that is needed to secure this symbolism is found as the devil is trying to seduce Goodman Brown to follow him further using the woman that taught him religion as incentive. “What if a wretched old woman does choose to go to the devil

Faith is all Goodman Brown has known. He had even married a Faith. The double meaning of Faith within this story shows major Irony for us as the readers. Brown marrying a Faith was almost shown as he made the biggest devotion towards God. The main character has put every ounce of Faith he has into his life that would completely give himself to God forever. This is

Faith in the name itself represents good and pure, which Brown decides to leave. People can be very faithful in their beliefs, but some can start to question them by the influence of others. As Brown keeps going deeper into the forest he sees a pink ribbon that his wife worn, at that moment his Faith is decreasing. He's confused as he encounters his wife Faith taking a part in a satanic ritual, that's when he tells Faith to resist the wicked one. Young Goodman Brown then wakes up from his nightmare and his whole life has been changed, seeing everyone as evil.

Faith plays a major role in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown”. From the start of his journey to his arrival back home, Faith is always in the back of head, making him question his surroundings and own thoughts. It’s hard to determine when he’s speaking of his lovely wife Faith or his Faith in his God and religion. Through his many

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different people as symbols throughout "Young Goodman Brown." The largest symbolic roles in the story are goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Both of the characters' names are symbolic and representative of their personalities. "'With Heaven above and Faith below, I will stand firm against the devil!' cried goodman Brown," is

“In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.” (1) Young Goodman Brown has several characters that mirror archetypal figures throughout the story. His wife Faith is a very important archetype in this story. Faith is the absolute love of Young Goodman Brown's life. In his eyes, Faith could never do anything wrong. She is representing the purity in the world and innocence of the world. The pink ribbons she wears in her hair also represent her innocence. She also represents people literal faith in God or religion. When Young Goodman Brown is in the woods nothing is going to persuade him to take the staff of the old man or finish his journey to the ceremony because he has faith and she is his rock to lean on. It's not until the he sees that even his sweet love has been drawn into the darkness and her pink ribbon have fallen off as she flew by him on the way to the ceremony that his point of view shifts. “There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fading into far-off laughter, as the dark

The way Hawthorne portrays Brown’s wife, Faith, is one of the most unique and powerful pieces of the story. It shows how a man can think completely differently and lose his faith due to traumatizing events. The way Young Goodman Brown represents the everyman is something very unique and enjoyable, as it takes the reader and puts them right into the main character’s shoes. Brown faces a lot of adversity that most people will go through one way or another, and Brown in this story can represent any given person during at least one point in their life. True, it may be hard to understand how one man could represent all of humanity, but Hawthorne did an excellent job at getting as close as possible. Young Goodman Brown may not be who someone identifies with when a crisis occurs, but his character truly shows how big of an impact an extreme incident can be on any given person, and completely changing their way of going about

     The word faith throughout the story is a play on words. The first use of the word faith is the name of Goodman Brown?s wife. The second use of the word faith describes Goodman Brown?s belief, trust and

Each time Goodman Brown refers to her, it is only too clear that he may in fact be referring to his own personal faith in God, life, and humanity, which is questioned to the point of breaking in this narrative. In fact, it seems that Faith is not even a character, so to speak. Rather, she is a tangible symbol of Goodman Brown’s faith and the changes that it endures when Goodman Brown loses his childhood innocence. (Stephanie Paey)