Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown Essay

As mentioned above, Hawthorne likes to use symbolism as a way to explain to make his short stories feel deeper than what they currently were. These symbols can be anything and anyone and there is no one more of a symbol than Goodman Brown's wife, Faith. She is Goodman Brown's beloved wife who symbolizes his love and hope in God. My reason for this point is because Faith in the story is seen as a pure and innocent woman who remain very loyal to Goodman Brown as he goes on his spiritual journey. Throughout the

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).

"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.

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.

In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author entertains the readers by using suspense and mystery. Hawthorne uses the devil and a witch as the main antagonists to test Young Goodman Brow’s faith, he uses symbolism to foreshadow. The author’s main goal as a puritan was to show that faith man’s most important quality, when is at risk it makes it seem as if everyone was bad, and see the rest of the world without faith.In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author entertains the readers by using suspense and mystery. Hawthorne uses the devil and a witch as the main antagonists to test Young Goodman Brow’s faith, he uses symbolism to foreshadow. The author’s main goal as a puritan was to show that faith man’s most important quality, when is at risk it makes it seem as if everyone was bad, and see the rest of the world without faith.

Conflict and symbolism in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne in this story portrays these two elements that enhance the way the story is written. The story “Young Goodman Brown” first takes place in a small town with brown and his wife faith. Then in the story brown leaves faith to go in an adventure that he would later wish he hadn’t gone in. Brown takes a journey through part of the woods that are really scary and comes across the devil himself to later find out that faith was evil and that many from his town were also evil and had a secret evil organization or cult. Through the use of conflict and symbolism, Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” portrays what Brown’s journey represents.

Of the many symbols he uses in this story, each has a profound meaning. They represent good and evil in the constant struggle of a young innocent man whose faith is being tested. As the story begins, Young Goodman Brown bids farewell to his young wife "Faith, as [she] was aptly named" (211). When she " ...thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap" we associate

That is done through the use of “symbolic figures, imagery, and events which are condensed together to paint a specific moral, spiritual or political meaning in the story” (Jaynes, 2006). The story “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory and it is correct to state that the names of each character hold a particular meaning and characteristics of the owner. The main character Goodman Brown gets portrayed as a lover of adventure in a journey to satisfy his curiosity about the dark side of his Puritan town. The central idea in this story is the conflict faced by the main character as he tries to decide whether to join the devil or stay clean and maintain his faith. First of all, the main purpose of this story is to show that anyone can sin. In the beginning, Young Goodman Brown decides to set off on a journey of self-scrutiny despite his wife Faith begging him not to do that. In the beginning, Young Goodman wants to become the evil one. He then passes that stage “and holds onto his faith as the adventure in the woods unravel” (Hawthorne, 277). His name is symbolic and showcases his character in the story. The first name “Young” represents innocence, naivety, lack of experience and lastly a little immaturity. The second name “Goodman” represents his excellent character and strong faith as well as a clean heart. The name Faith portrays a person who wouldn’t sin, but in the setting, the character’s name does not fit her personality. At first, she seems worthy of her name and Goodman thinks she is innocent as portrayed by the pink ribbons. We see that Brown loses his faith in her as she ends up associating with devious activities despite promising him that she

Since allegory and symbolism are simply part of the creative writing process, to make the ideas of the story convincing, the author will use many instances of symbolism to make the overarching idea of the story hit home. The uses of symbolism must also be relevant and accommodate to the meaning of the story. Because Hawthorn is trying to convey the “Fall of Man” point of view to the story and feeling he has towards American religion as a whole. In “Young Goodman Brown”, he inserts several uses of symbolism that complement the overarching theme. Such an insertion would be the woods in the story.

“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

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" the use of symbols contributes to the development of the story's plot. Symbolism is used as a means to uncover the truth about the characters. The author, in an attempt to manifest the moral aspects of his society, uses many kinds of symbols to support his points.

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

Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown" is an excellent example of an allegory. Allegories use events, characters or symbolism as a bizarre or abstract representation of ideas in the story, and throughout "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorne uses a heavy amount of symbolism, as well as his characters and the events of the story line to develop a religious allegory. A large symbolic role is played by protagonist Goodman Brown's wife, Faith. Also, the main event in the short story, Brown's journey into the forest, holds several major symbolic roles such as the traveler's staff, and the thick mass of black clouds. This essay will be exploring how Hawthorne used symbolism to achieve an allegory within his short story.

     Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism throughout his short story Young Goodman Brown to impact and clarify the theme of good people sometimes doing bad things. Hawthorne uses a variety of light and dark imagery, names, and people to illustrate irony and different translations. Young Goodman Brown is a story about a man who comes to terms with the reality that people are imperfect and flawed and then dies a bitter death from the enlightenment of his journey through the woods. Images of darkness, symbolic representations of names and people and the journey through the woods all attribute to Hawthorne's theme of good people sometimes doing bad things.