Emy Gore : 1444769
Professor Sharp
English 1033-18
23 September 2013
Judging Young Goodman Brown
The short story Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, accurately bestows all aspects of an allegory. According to Merriam Webster, an allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Through this work, Hawthorne is able to depict the apparent hypocrisy in today’s world and especially in religion in America. The story is of a man, Young Goodman Brown, who is highly tempted by the devil himself and in the end caves to the pressure due to his lack of faith and even due to a little curiosity. Brown could not help but wonder what this new world could potentially behold for him; unfortunately, his curiosity didn’t change him for the better, only for the worse. The ceremony and changing opened his eyes and made him see the true colors of those around him. We see how Brown loses faith in the people in his community, his family, and especially in himself. We first see Browns opinion on those around him when he shows up to the ceremony in the woods and thinks that “It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints.” (Hawthorne 1128). This is when Brown first realizes that some of the people he believes complete saints truly weren’t, but rather were sinners in disguise. It was said that when Brown first came onto the streets after the ceremony, he
"Young Goodman Brown," a story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, should be interpreted on a psychoanalytical level rather than a religious one. It is my observation that "Young Goodman Brown" may very well be the first published work alluding to divisions of the mind and personality theory. Although religion is a direct theme throughout the story, "Young Goodman Brown" appears to be an allegory with deeper meanings.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Young Goodman Brown based on morals and what Easterly in "Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' " calls "spiritual maturity" (Easterly 339). In the short story, Goodman Brown, a young Puritan leaves his wife of three months to watch a witch ceremony in the forest. During this point in time, Puritans based their lives on teachings of religion and morality; therefore, witch-meetings were surely immoral, and they betrayed the commitment of God. Dwelling in the forest throughout the night, Goodman Brown experiences an event that changes his entire perspective of life. In one night, the event destroys "his relationship with his wife Faith, isolates him from his neighbors, and destroys his ability to
It was stated that the man he encountered had known Browns’ elders as well. Goodman was led to a large assembly and he found many townspeople that he knew gathered around an altar surrounded by burning trees. He recognized many of these faces and it changed the image he had toward them. From the audiences’ perspective, we understand many of the stories “characters have the names of Salem residents charged with witchcraft; and its major action takes place in the noisy pasture historical documents of, the period designate as a witches ' gathering place” (Bunge 434). At the time, Brown had seen many of the people that attended the assembly to be sin free. This is symbolic because the assembly takes place in what the audience knows to be as a town that has had numerous witch trials. This led him to realize that everyone has their flaws but he may not be able to accept them. This explains a concept of the story involving the loss of innocence. When he discovers the town in this meeting, his faith is being tested. He is not able to cope and has reason to believe that he is now held to a higher standard than others because the ones he thought were saints are no longer faithful in his eyes.
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
Hawthorne’s use of elaborate symbolism is seen through out the entire story. The naïve man represents all people, who at first are blind to all the wicked darkness in life. The forest is a foreshadowing of evil, and is used to set the atmosphere in the story. Hawthorne cleverly uses "Faith" as the Puritan’s wife’s name to show his readers that even those whom we entrust with our most intimate love and faith often experience the same temptations and desires as the rest of mankind. The Devil’s fire, around which all the townspeople danced, is a representation of all their sins. At the end of the Puritan’s journey his transformation is a symbol of what happens to people when faced with the realization that no individual is sinless. This situation is similar to when a child discovers that its once loving and all knowing parents have flaws, it goes through this transition and it too looses its innocence. Through this gloomy allegory filled will elaborate symbolism Hawthorne conveys his ideas on the darkness of human nature.
Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil is a parable, suggests his purpose for writing. According to Webster’s dictionary, a parable is a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. This is exactly what Hawthorne is trying to accomplish. The black veil that Pastor Hooper wears causes confusion and creates fear within
When it comes to the topic of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, most of us will readily agree that duplicity is a major theme in the piece, or the idea of different versions of reality. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether Hawthorne is implying that man is inherently evil. Whereas some are convinced that Young Goodman Brown was good until tainted by the Devil, others maintain that he was evil from the beginning and was completely aware of the evil he was indulging in. My personal view, however, is that Young Goodman Brown was inherently evil, but it did not come to light until the Devil began to influence Brown. This can be seen through the use of symbolism, biblical allusions, and the development of the main characters. While the Devil may have revealed that Young Goodman Brown was not as innocent and pious as he appeared, Brown was willingly indulging in sin and was inherently evil.
Brown believes that his wife should be excluded from the meeting so she will remain pure, yet somehow believes that his presence is mandatory and gives no thought to his own purity. He believes that Faith's immediate acceptance into heaven will pull him along with her, regardless of his sinful actions. Brown's nervousness about his journey shows that he is conscious of the risks, yet he refuses the possibility of remaining home because he believes in his own ability to resist corruption, even if he does not believe in Faith's. Brown's willingness to make an exception for his own actions while refusing the same exception for Faith is one of Hawthorne's first scornful examples of hypocrisy. Similarly, Hawthorne highlights the hypocritical juxtaposition of Brown's actions during and after the ritual. When Brown discovers Faith's pink hair ribbon and realizes the Devil has taken her, he is terrified and continuously searches for her as the Devil speaks. However, upon finding her and waking up from his dream, he treats her differently because of her attendance: "Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith; and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down
In “Young Goodman Brown,” there is a fight between good and evil with one main character being torn between the two sides and every other character seemingly on one side or the other through the reader’s view, although many characters do deceive Goodman Brown about whether they are good or evil. This fight between the two sides and the deception that causes confusion for Goodman Brown is the source of tension throughout the entire story. In “Young Goodman Brown,” every character’s traits and dialogue, the setting, and even colors mentioned have double meanings and are symbolic to the main binary oppositions of either good or evil.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.
In the short story of “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the setting is a very important aspect in providing symbolism to certain events. The setting of a dramatic work or story is defined as the overall setting of a narrative detailing the general location, historical time, and social undermining in which its action occurs. The setting of a story is just as important as the characters that are involved within the story. It is a necessary aspect that has influence on every narration. Which is a subject that has not gained much attraction and attention as other parts of the story, but is certainly a very interesting topic to discuss. This essay will give an in-depth analysis of the various techniques that Hawthorne used to convey
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.
Let us discuss the psychological aspect of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing as evidenced in his tale “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.
“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a normal man that ventures into the forest to meet an old man who attempts to tempt him into going deeper into the woods to worship the devil. After the old man convinces him that everyone that he loves and respects is going to the devil’s ceremony he gives in. In “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne effectively uses symbolism to portray the theme that putting one 's faith in others leads to weakness and the role his psychological developed plays in his morality.