Research Inquiry: How did Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Puritan heritage influence him?
Thesis Statement: Living in Salem, Massachusetts and being the great grandson of the famous John Hathorne influences Nathaniel in a positive way, but also in a negative way.
Response: Despite being the great grandson of John Hathorne, Nathaniel uses his opportunity to an advantage. Nathaniel grows up in a reshaping nation, with stories of witch trials and communist hunts. Hawthorne utilizes his resources and writes a short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, which is a short story primarily based off of his great grandfather during the Salem witch trials. This short story portrays his great grandfather and expresses how the short story relates to his life without telling
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.
A passion is something that makes you drive forward in life, but not something you want or that you are trying to get. In the novel The Contender by Robert Lipsyte, there is a high school dropout who does not know what he is going to do with his life while everyone around him is either reaching their goals or slowly dying. In The Contender people without a passion seem to die off and it is the same about people with bad passions. The high school dropout, Alfred is very lost and does not know what to do in life. Alfred’s best friend James is also a dropout and later on in the book a drug addict. Major, a drug dealer tries to pull down Alfred, his only passion is drugs and money. In the context of The Contender people with a
Nathaniel Hawthorne comes from a bloodline that is associated with the Salem witch trials in 1692. His great-great-grandfather was a puritan that took part in the executions during the witch trilas, explaining Hawthorne’s fondness with the religion. Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his interest in the News England Puritan past. Most of Hawthorne’s writings implement the Puritan ways and faith in which most of the characters act upon or main faith is revolved around. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Scarlet Letter” are both one of Hawthorne’s many pieces that are prime examples of the Puritan religion affecting his writing. Through the story Hawthorne uses many allegories representing Christian, but also puritan faith and many symbols relating to them also.
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
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nineteenth century American writer that was born in Massachusetts with a Puritan Heritage. “Born in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July, 1804, he was the descendant of Puritan worthies and the son of a ship’s captain who died at sea in 1808” (Gollin). Allegories are portrayed in his writings to depict a vivid outlook of his moral themes. Many of his works describe the human conscience and how it deals with guilt. Hawthorne’s works describe his contemplation on sin and guilt. He believed it had an effect on one’s social behavior, as well
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 works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates
Paige Ashby Dr. William Kanyusik Critical Writing 8 November, 2017 Setting Importance and the Change in Young Goodman Brown’s Life Outlook Nathaniel Hawthorne is a decedent of John Hawthorn, a Puritan magistrate who lived in Salem during the witch trials. Using Salem as the anchor for Goodman Brown was also quite strategical due to the fact that it was considered the new Puritan stronghold. He uses his ancestry as inspiration in his piece Young Goodman Brown in which the main character goes through an existential crisis.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Critiques Puritan Society in His Works, Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter
The use of certain thematic elements in “Young Goodman Brown” help readers understand how the main character lost his faith and became bitter towards religious people. In the year 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Massachusetts Bay colonists; Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning in Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne’s great-grandfather, John Hathorne, had the role of judging during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 (Means).
Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of American literature's finest writers; his writing style was very distinct and unusual in some aspects. It is his background that provided this ambiguous and complex approach to writing. Hawthorne's New England heritage has, at times, been said to be the contributing factor in his works. The Puritan view of life itself was considered to be allegorical, their theology rested primarily on the idea of predestination and the separation of the saved and the damned As evident from Hawthorne's writings his intense interest in Puritanical beliefs often carried over to his novels such as, Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlet Letter, and The Minister's Black Veil just to name a few of the more well known pieces of his work.
With most writers, readers can identify what topics they tend to write about, how long their pieces often are, and what personal style these authors develop. While this is true of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are different elements that influence his writings. His life included many times of trials, many joys, and many ancestors that caused some turmoil within his mind. Two of his major works are influenced almost directly by his background (Werlock). Nathaniel Hawthorne threw his life into every single piece of his writing. His experiences, background, and the setting in which his life took place are prominent
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.”
This essay will examine the main physical settings within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” These are four in number and begin and end in the village of Salem.
Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model is a valuable and functional assessment tool that evaluates the different cultural variables and how those variables effect health, illness and behaviors (Giger, 2013). This philosophy considers the uniqueness of each individual, understanding that the individual is unique, a product of their culture, religion, environment socioeconomic status and diversity. Giger and Dividhizar propose that, as health care providers, we need an acute awareness of the ethnicity and culture of each individual, having the knowledge and understanding to care for them as