The Call of “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Young Goodman Brown”

In “Young Goodman Brown”, after his journey into the forest, Brown changes his entire outlook on life. He has lost his faith and has taken on a life of darkness and unrest because he is never sure whether the events of what happened in the forest were reality or imagined. From that point on he is never at peace because he is always expecting evil. And he is then depicted as a man who never has happiness with his beloved “Faith”, that is his wife and his actual faith in God, or in any other thing in his life. Brown becomes a victim to the nature of evil and the effects that it can play on the

Taking a trip to the forest, Brown discovers the truth that there is evil in all individuals realizing all that he had once thought to be true was a lie. After that one night, whether it was a dream or not, his ideas were set in stone. Because of the discovery in the forest, he believes that once a sin has been committed, one is automatically evil. As

When Brown finally reaches the meeting of the townspeople, his hope rises again because his wife Faith, whom he expects to see is not there. However, she soon unfortunately joins him and the others whom are about to undergo initiation. They are the “only pair, as it seemed who were yet hesitating on the verge of wickedness in the dark world” (Hawthorne). They stare at each other in frightened anticipation, and for the last time Brown calls out for help: “Faith! Faith!...Look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one” (Hawthorne). But “whether Faith obeyed he knew

In the short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” which was written by Herman Melville, the character named Bartleby is a very odd, yet interesting individual. In the story, Bartleby is introduced when he responds to a job opening at the narrator’s office. Although there is no background information given about him, it becomes very apparent that he will be the antagonist in this story. Unlike the usual image put on the antagonist, Bartleby causes conflict with a very quiet and calm temperament. This character’s attitude, along with the fact that he is a flat and static character, makes him a very unique antagonist, and this fact is shown through the way other characters approach and deal with his conflict.

Brown has been married to his wife aptly named Faith, for only three months. Three months is a very short time and this can symbolize that he lacks an attachment to faith. He is willing to stray from his own wife to go on his journey at night. Brown knows that what lies at the end of his journey of the woods is not good, but he only sees it as a one time occasion. Goodman Brown even says to himself “Well; she 's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I 'll

With this being said, it is hard for him to admit that the people he has admired all his life could have such evil in them; this connects back to the quote stated above in that Brown becomes disappointed when evil shows up so quickly in those that he thought to be holy, filling him with feelings of betrayal and

‘There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name’” (Hawthorne 6). Brown meant that his wife, Faith, was gone and had left their home to go into the woods and meet with the devil, but Hawthorne also used this to show that Brown’s faith, spiritually was gone. By going into the woods and meeting with the devil, Brown had lost his faith and destruction would follow. When Brown returned back to the town from his meeting with the cult and the devil, he saw his wife: “Turning the corner by the meeting-house, he spied the head of Faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such joy at sight of him, that she skipt along the street and almost kissed her husband before the whole village.

Faith knew that she wasn’t strong enough to go against the devil. She was all in doubt, questioning her own faith, but just always tried/ wanted to stay strong for Brown. Once Brown started seeing everybody else crossover including his wife Faith, he too begin to doubt his own faith, and belief in God. Brown started to feel himself get weak, so he lifts his hands to pray. When he started praying, a dark black cloud shifted northward and came along some confused doubtful voices. A lot of voices was clouding Brown’s mind but he stayed strong, and firm. He didn’t let nothing, or nobody get to him. He was very hurt by the fact of seeing his wife crossing over to the devil side. Brown got back home and saw his wife sitting there with the same pink ribbons in her head. He then too began to think that he was dreaming or if it was a true story or not. As I stated at the beginning of my essay, everything that had happened was something convinced by evil. The evil Travelers were trying to convince others to be of the Devil and not God. Now he wonders why his neither Grandfather nor Father took that dark gloomy path, and was always in the house before midnight. He also sees why his wife didn’t want him to go on that evil journey. Brown doesn’t know what to believe, he doesn’t know if his wife crossed over to be with the devil or not. His mind is playing tricks on him. Since Brown is having those thoughts, he

he is always the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at

When he sees that Faith has been defiled, he believes in the absolute evil at the core of man. His alienation from Faith toward the finish of the story is the most exceedingly bad result of his difference in heart. In the event that he can be suspicious of Faith, Hawthorne recommends, and after that he has really turned out to be alienated from the goodness of God. The entire loss of his faith and his decrease into distrustfulness and sorrow happens when he hears his wife Faith in the forest on her way to the function and see's her at the Devil's mass and surrenders him to the devil's evilness. This is on account of to start with Brown initially admired his wife, Faith, and was enlivened by her virtue, holiness, and faith in

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “ Young Goodman Brown” is full of mystery. Hawthorne does a great job keeping you on the edge of your seat. You are never sure what will be happening next. Hawthorne

Seeing his fellow church members and his wife among women who were convicted and put to death for being witches makes Brown question himself. Yet, still Brown abhors transgression. Although he avoids Satan, however, he cannot forget how Satan influenced him with what he saw that night. He became " a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man" (Hawthorne 1244) and lived his life this way until death.

At one point in the story, it almost seemed that Brown lost everything he ever cared for. It was just slipping away through his fingers. Brown even lost faith in his own religion and whether “there is no good on earth, and sin is but a name” (Hawthorne 590). One the other hand, one verse that came to my mind from the Bible that really applied is “Faith without works is dead “(James 2:17 KJV). As a reader I do believe that Brown had to have some type of faith in his heart left knowing that he would be connected back to his wife Faith once again. We did learn throughout the short story that, yes, Young Goodman Brown was in a trail of his faith; where his faith would be tested over time. While he was there, people try to convert him into doing

People tend to put their faith and hopes on other people, and they let them down, hurt them emotionally. Emotions fluctuate and one cannot help but be upset or be enraged, this is what the Romanticism Movement fueled itself on. Human emotion, nature, religion, and love are all factors of Romanticism. Romantic characteristics can be found in literature and are expressed by people throughout the Romantic Era from how they considered human potential and personality more valuable than reason. When reading Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, someone can identify and understand the ideas of Romanticism and the influence the idea had on American literature from how they focus on a person’s beliefs and inner struggles. This story relates to Romanticism from how the story shows Goodman Brown’s love and care for Faith, how evil is within every human being, and how Goodman Brown loses his faith in all goodness of humanity when he sees Faith turn over to the dark side at the Devil’s ceremony.

The short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne relies heavily on the atmosphere and setting. Goodman Brown embarks on a journey through the woods at the witching hour of midnight and faces true evil, which completely ruins his whole life. Throughout this journey, many elements of the settings helped tribute to the overall mood, or atmosphere. Hawthorne has drenched this story in the feeling of dread and bad things to come. The setting of “Young Goodman Brown” gives off an evil atmosphere all throughout the story through imagery, elements of nature, and allusions.