Nathaniel Hawthorne 's Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory is “Young Goodman Brown.” The setting takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, during the mid-1600s. The protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, ventures into a dark, brooding forest down a path of uncertaincy and fear. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbols of black, the serpent’s staff, and the old traveler to convey his theme about evil.

As mentioned, when Goodman Brown wandered into the forest, he encountered a man. This man is seen to be the Devil due to the serpent like engravings that wrapped around his staff. With a resembling figure of Goodman, the

There are many obvious cues in “Young Goodman Brown.” The first example is the name, Goodman Brown. His name is symbolic of the good man he is and of the faith he bestows. Another example is his wife named Faith, “and Faith, as the wife was aptly named.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”) She is a representation of his own religious ‘faith’ and reflects their innocence and purity, sin, the consummation between married couples, and the complications of living in a world where these qualities are mingled. When she "thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap"(Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown”) we associate the purity of ‘Faith’ and the ‘pink ribbons’ as a sign of the innocence and goodness of the town he must leave behind. His leaving her to enter the dark and dismal forest is symbolic of him leaving his faith in the religious sense. This is the first decision he has to make - to leave his faith and enter the evil that is the forest. It is obvious that he is frightened as he walks through the forest. He runs into an old man there holding a staff that resembles a serpent. This is the man that he was looking for. This man is evil and Goodman Brown is confident that he can resist the temptations he is offered. It is obvious that this man is representative of the Devil who Goodman Brown so obviously fears and wants to avoid.

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

Another symbol that we see in this story “Young Goodman Brown” is the pink ribbons that faith uses in her cap. “He looked back and saw the head of faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons” (Hawthorne 137).This seems to symbolize the ribbons as having a sort of positive emotion in this case towards the presence of Goodman Brown. In this story there were quite a few symbols that symbolized important events or ideas through the entire

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” these literary devices are used to bring emphasis to Brown’s struggle with his moral and spiritual beliefs. Goodman Brown is challenged with an important decision to keep his faith or follow the temptation of evil. Allegory and symbolism of the pink ribbons, Faith, the staff, and the woods are used by Hawthorne to create an allusion that the town’s people could not be corrupted by evil.

The main symbol used by Hawthorne throughout the story is Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith. Faith has a more of a significance in the story than just Brown’s wife, she represents actual faith and purity. There is a conflict going on inside of Brown’s mind and it is if he should “keep the faith” or not. In the beginning, Faith urges Brown to stay home and go in the morning, but he disregards her and keeps going. This is a metaphor for Brown leaving his religious faith. Goodman Brown questions if his wife has lost faith in him and he asks her, ‘“dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married?”’ Throughout the story, Faith stays as a symbol of Brown’s faith. The devil and Goodman Brown finally meet and the devil questions Brown about being late. Brown being a little afraid responds with, “Faith kept me back awhile,” Faith physically tried to hold Brown back and figuratively talking about his faith in the religion. His wife could have prevented Brown from talking to the devil, but failed. Meeting with the devil evidently shows that Brown is willing to see the evil side of his religion.

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.

Hawthorne’s use of symbolism throughout the piece explicitly shows that Goodman Brown was always sinful and inherently evil, rather than a pillar of pious virtue. it can be assumed that Young Goodman Brown is meant to represent man, or humanity, as a whole. He is intended to represent the average person living in the Puritan society at the time that the piece was written. The name of Young Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith Brown, is explicitly intended to represent his “faith”. She is described as wearing pink ribbons in her cap, as seen in “"with the

The largest symbols existing in this story are Goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Both characters have a symbolic name that reflect their personalities. Hawthorne uses Brown’s wife’s name Faith, as a symbol of Brown’s own faith throughout the

Another symbol that is used by Hawthorne to show loss of innocence are Faiths pink ribbons. Goodman brown discovers that Faith has lost her pink ribbons indicating that she has lost her innocence. " The young man seized it and beheld a pink ribbon"(Hawthorne 5). The ribbons are used since the beginning of the story to represent Faiths purity and innocence. When Faith tries to sell her soul to

Hawthorne use(s) symbolism to show how everyday things can impact ones chooses when choosing between good vs evil. The symbols used symbols evil thing or thoughts in Young Goodman Brown. Young Goodman Brown is used to symbols a perfect man that is a good person. Hawthorne uses symbolism to show how a weakness of public morality towards evilness. Hawthorne also use the symbols to reflect on how evilness can come between even the most loyal Christians in Salem, Massachusetts. One of the symbols used is the devil staff to help convert Christians to sinners. He also uses faith’s pink ribbons as symbols to show how women can easily be converted from Christianity to evilness.

From the beginning of “Young Goodman Brown”, he sets off on his adventure right at sunset. But to set out on sunset means to go during darkness. In describing it in that sense, it is symbolizing evil, which establishes the setting of the story. When Goodman Brown is beginning his journey into the woods, he tells his wife, who is aptly named Faith goodbye. Hawthorne intentionally names her Faith because it symbolizes the faith in God that he and his wife share, and to also depict what Goodman Brown leaves at his house while he goes on his adventure. His wife is wearing pink ribbons in her hair, which implies that she is a pure, innocent woman. Before Goodman Brown begins his departure into the woods, she tells him not to go until sunrise. This implies that going during a sunrise is much more peaceful and pleasant rather than going during sunset when it is otherwise

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,

“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.