The Setting Of Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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

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.

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.

As Brown starts on his adventure he recalls that his wife, Faith, had dreams of this particular adventure, dreams that warned him not to go; this feeling of uncertainty sparks a feeling of anxiety in Brown as he continues walking through the forest and on with his journey. As he walks on, the scenery around him begins to change, "He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind." (310). This quote describes the dark and gloomy surroundings that Brown is walking through on his journey, it also creates the mood of fear and hesitance as he continues on his way. Then as Brown is walking along he comes to encounter a man dressed in grave and decent attire. The man states "You are late, Goodman Brown," and Brown replies by saying, "Faith kept me back awhile." (310) In literal terms he is speaking of his wife, but metaphorically he could be speaking of his faith in god and how it almost kept him from embarking on his journey. Hawthorne creates many metaphors in his story of "Young Goodman Brown." Later on in Brown's journey he meets a man with a cane that resembles a snake, the serpent is a symbol of evil, and then when Brown protests against the devil, "With heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm

“Young Goodman Brown” is a story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. This was the period around the crazy incidents of the Salem Witch Trials. This piece is covered with topics that can be described as having alternative meanings. Through the symbolism in the story, the audience is able to make ties between the old relationships Goodman Brown had with the other townspeople. The series of event in the story bring him to believe that his entire life was a lie and no one was worthy of his trust. All of the misconceptions in his life were brought on by the occupations and actions that his fellow townsfolk underwent while Goodman Brown was around them. Through the regards of symbolism, new meanings of this nighttime experience are

Young Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, is also an important symbol in this story. Her name alone implies that she is a symbol for goodness and the Christian life that Young Goodman Brown leaves behind when he departs on his journey. In the story, it says that she calls out to him and he turns his back on her, which can either be taken literally or in the sense of one turning his back on God and Christian life, because he heads for the woods, an implication of sin and witchcraft. In her hair, Faith wears pink ribbons, which are a sign of her innocence and playfulness. When Goodman Brown sees her pink ribbons in her hair, he is aware of her innocence, so when he finds a pink ribbon belonging to her clinging to a tree branch in the woods, he doubts the faith of her and of all those around him.

The story of ?Young Goodman Brown? exemplifies the struggle of one man?s internal conflict of good and evil. The main character, Goodman Brown, leaves Salem village and his wife, Faith, to travel into the depths of the dark forest. The Young Goodman Brown will be aged with the knowledge he faces in this one night. Brown keeps his appointment with the devil in the forest, and he must choose to go back to his ?faith,? or explore the evils that the devil has to offer. Next, Brown is confronted with the virtuous people who live in his community, who will be attending the witch?s meeting with the devil. He has to decide if he will follow them along this

“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

In “Young Goodman Brown,” there is a fight between good and evil with one main character being torn between the two sides and every other character seemingly on one side or the other through the reader’s view, although many characters do deceive Goodman Brown about whether they are good or evil. This fight between the two sides and the deception that causes confusion for Goodman Brown is the source of tension throughout the entire story. In “Young Goodman Brown,” every character’s traits and dialogue, the setting, and even colors mentioned have double meanings and are symbolic to the main binary oppositions of either good or evil.

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 "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.

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

“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

     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.

Goodman Brown’s conflicts of interest are represented throughout story through the characters. All his evil desires are his id and his reason for avoiding his sin such as the views that his society will have on him is his ego.  Levy said in his essay “The Problem of Faith in “Young Goodman Brown””, “His submission to evil suggests that the demands of the id have overtaken the ego” (379). When the highly respected people in his