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Nathaniel Hawthorne 's Young Goodman Brown And The Minister 's Black Veil Essay

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Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804 (Belasco). Hawthorne’s ancestry relates all the way back to the witch trials that took place in Salem during 1692 and 1693; his ancestor John Hathorne, was one of the three judges during the trials (Nathaniel Hawthorne). After Hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825, he moved back to Salem and lived with his mother while he worked on his writing for the next twelve years (Belasco). During this time, he changed his last name, adding a “W” to it, to distance himself from those before him.
Before his death, in 1864, he published many short stories two of which included “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. In 1835, Hawthorne published “Young Goodman Brown” which is “perhaps the greatest tale of witchcraft ever written” (Nathaniel Hawthorne). And in 1836, Hawthorne wrote “The Minister’s Black Veil”, a story of an in-depth look at sin. Both of these short stories were written during a time when Puritanism was highly regarded and emphasized on all the communities. Puritanism started in England in the sixteenth century when a group of extreme Protestants separated from the Church of England (Bowden). Puritanism focuses on following the bible as if it is directions for life.
A good portion of American Puritans lived in New England for more than two hundred years (Bowden). Puritanism is still around today but no as prominent and followed as it was during the time of Salem’s

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