Daisy Barreto
English 101
Professor Salwak
July 6, 2015
Symbolism/Allegory
Have you ever gone somewhere you knew you shouldn’t be? Or have you ever been somewhere and then regretted the trip? Maybe it was a journey you started and soon realized that even with guidance and help you took the wrong route. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” we find a man who has taken a trip and fighting to return home in all sanity. Goodman Brown began his walk into a forest one evening. His wife, Faith, tried to hold him back, because she knew at this time of day only evil could come out of this excursion. Throughout the story, Goodman Brown fights between his religion and evil. However, unfortunately, he is only human and loses to the
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Young Goodman Brown does not just mean a twenty year old good man. Goodman is used the same way Mr. is used in modern days. The title Goody, in Goody Cloyse, is the equivalent to Goodman, except used for women. When these names are used, the reader gets an understanding that the character is in good standing with the community or town they are associated with. Basically Goodman Brown is your daily man with values, family, and of religious faith. The “young” in his name means he is inexperienced. So, in actuality his name is symbolizing a naïve everyday man. Goodman Brown is immature in the way that he thinks. He was not able to fathom that the people who he believed were in great standing with religion could have ever fallen into temptation and sin. The second very obvious use of symbolism, yet easy to overlook, is his wife’s name Faith. She is not only his wife, but her name stands for his religious faith. When Brown is in the woods, he tells his companion, “Faith kept me back a while” (406). He was speaking about his religious faith. Brown felt connected to his faith and did not want to go into that dark forest. Faith symbolized the pureness that still lived inside of …show more content…
This man is actually the devil. The devil always represents wickedness and corruption. He walks along the forest with Goodman. This elderly man’s face resembles Goodman Brown. That is pure symbolism. The fact that he looked like Brown meant that there is evil in everyone. He represents the evil that potentially lives in Brown. Since Brown is naïve, the devil tries to convince him to walk the path of sin. He tries to persuade Goodman Brown that the sinful life is normal and there is no way to avoid it. The devil tries to show him that although you may think you are strong in your religious faith you will always fall into temptation. The devil carries a staff that turned into a serpent. This is a symbol for the cunning and ugly person this devil truly is. The staff is a connection to the snake from the very famous story of Adam and Eve; it is connected because both men fall into temptation. This devil is the reason Brown began to submit himself to the evil of this
Goodman Brown seems to be a religious man that is becoming skeptical about his faith and the goodness in people. Nathaniel Hawthorne names his main character Goodman, which is a representative of the general good in all men and women. As Goodman Brown takes his journey through the forest he begins to lose his faith. Goodman Brown says “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand!” (Hawthorne 1) and when he tells his companion “having kept covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples touching the matter thou wot’st of” (Hawthorne 3).
In the story of "Young Goodman Brown" setting plays an important role. It provides symbolism to certain events and provokes emotions amongst the characters, especially those of Goodman Brown. The story of "Young Goodman Brown" is that of a man on an adventure to feed his curiosity and to visit the dark side of his Puritan town. Once he arrives at the destination of his adventure, he realizes that many of his elders have followed in the paths of evil and that holiness and innocence has been vanquished from his once thought to be holy Puritan town. The central idea of "Young Goodman Brown," is the conflict in Goodman Brown between joining the devil and remaining
The story reveals that there is some degree of evil in everyone because humans are born with the freewill to do right or wrong. As humans, we are born into an imperfect world and we have many flaws. We can choose to be good honest people or evil doers. The older man in Young Goodman Brown said that Goodman Brown had more evil power then he did. This older man could represent an evil spirit or even the devil himself. This line in the story could
After he enters the woods, however, he is no longer referred to as Young Goodman Brown, just Goodman Brown, as if the innocence and purity he once possessed is with him no longer. He left his wife, Faith, for sin and impurity in the woods, so he no longer deserves the title Young Goodman Brown.
Goodman Brown then says that these people’s ways have no attachment to him and therefore he is not capable of their sinful doings. This urges his companion into uncontrollable laughter, for he knows that Goodman Brown is as much a sinner as the rest of them although he has yet to realize this. Meeting Goody Cloyse in the forest shows that Goodman Brown has been evil all of his life, for she is a witch, and he says that the old lady taught him his catechism.
“Young Goodman Brown,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835, is a short story about a man named young Goodman Brown who leaves his wife, Faith, to go on an errand into the woods with the devil. Faith begs Goodman Brown to not leave her alone, but he chooses to go anyways. This short story shows many signs of symbolism, such as the forest, the devil, the staff, the pink ribbons, Faith, sin, and guilt. These symbols help in understanding the story of young Goodman Brown and his unconscious struggle with his religion. The trip not only takes Brown onto a journey of sadness, but also into the deepest parts of his soul. Goodman Brown wishes to enter the dark forest of sin, to satisfy his
“Young Goodman Brown” tells the story of Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown begins the story about to leave home and his Puritan Wife Faith to go on a journey that he felt guilty with to begin with. Despite his initial guilt, he leaves home a devout Puritan and sound in his beliefs. Throughout the story, Goodman Brown digresses as a man and loses his faith over the course of events of the story. On his journey, Brown meets a man who first tries to tempt him to go with him to a meeting in the forest. The man turns out to be the devil. Before parting ways, the devil gives Brown a staff
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an excellent example of the use of allegories and symbolism as a form of satire on Puritan faith. According to Frank Preston Stearns, author of The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Hawthorne may have intended this story as an exposure of the inconsistency, and consequent hypocrisy, of Puritanism” (Stearns 181). Throughout the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne tries to infuse as many symbols and allegories as he can to enhance the overall meaning of his story. He uses the village, Goodman Brown, Faith, the man in the forest, and the time spent in the forest as either a symbol or an allegory to get his point across that Puritans are not always what they seem to be.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne introduces Goodman Brown, who doubts himself and reiterates his false confidence to himself repeatedly. His struggle between the evil temptations, the devil, and the proper church abiding life, is a struggle he does not think he can handle. This story is about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before the sunrise.
"As he was walking into the forest I think it symbolic of how his soul is getting darker as the light of goodness fade away from his soul and the Indian behind the trees are the temptations in his life that are out to get him." says Owatas (website 1) Young Good Man Brown even doubts his next course f action but as soon as he meets up with the devil his fate is sealed.
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 addition, the literature uses imagery in that the name Young Goodman Brown is used to indicate the innocence and naivety. On the other hand, the name Goodman is used to illustrate the company of a simple
“Young Goodman Brown” has a theme of Puritan nature as well. People often dwell on life’s uncertainties so much that they loose the ability to enjoy life. Goodman Brown had a curiosity that made him travel into the wicked
Goodman Brown is a good and confident man, much like our soldiers are, but are they are also naïve. Goodman has only been married but three months, and yet he must leave his newlywed to embark on a quest. The soldiers, like Goodman Brown do not know what is ahead for them, or what they are getting themselves into. Once they start their journey, there is no going back, “so that with lonely footsteps [they] may yet be passing through an unseen multitude” (Hawthorne 1). Goodman voluntarily travels through the woods in order to embark on his quest; while our soldiers are thrown into the atmosphere, with no options to leave, to a foreign place where no "good" man has ever left.
Throughout the story Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the names of Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith as symbolic representations. The word ?young? in Goodman Brown?s name gives you the image of an inexperienced, naïve boy who must take on an adventure instead of staying in the comfort of his surroundings. His wife, Faith, tries to stop him by saying, ?Pray thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night.? (196) Here you see Faith encouraging Goodman Brown?s quest for knowledge to be done in the light (sunrise) instead traveling through the unknown darkness to gain wisdom. Her fear is made clear through the use of light and dark imagery. The use of the words ?good? and ?man? in Goodman Brown names leaves you to wonder if men are really good. My interpretation is that Goodman Brown is not good at all because he falls into the devil's temptation and excepts the baptism. It proves that even the best of men are subject to imperfection.