Throughout The Beginning Of The Course We Have Read A Wide

Hawthorne and Jackson have set different tones for their stories. Nathaniel Hawthorne creates a tone that is somber and serious throughout most of the story of “Yong Goodman Brown”. The story tells of a man, Goodman Brown, discovering evil. Even though Goodman Brown has apprehension about going on the journey in the forest, he allows his curiosity to get the best of him and decides to attend the evil ceremony in the forest. The tone of the story corresponds with the action occurring in the plot as one of somberness. Brown goes along in his journey expecting something evil to take place. After learning the nature of evil, he begins to feel that he is constantly surrounded by evil. This changes his attitude from his background of piety and faith to a dark place that suspects evil in everything including his wife.

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).

Hawthorne in essence, portrayed Goodman as proof of the nature of evil in man by showing how easily even a young dedicated Puritan can easily be influenced by a complete stranger. This stranger was symbolically the Devil among men in this text. Hawthorne begins introducing the Devil immediately as trying to sway Goodman to follow him on a long journey. By leaving his wife, Faith to begin the journey, Goodman Brown was symbolically leaving his faith in God and entering a forsaken ground by following the Devil. The fact that Goodman Brown left with no regard for his wife Faith’s warning, symbolized the lack of regard for his own faith in God and his fellow human race. This simple disregard that Goodman Brown showed was evidence of the easily persuaded ability of man to choose sin over good.

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

In Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” although the decision to visit the devil was not one Goodman Brown following the crowd, he soon realized he had not been the only one tempted to visit the devil. Actually upon his meeting the devil, he realized that he did not want to continue his journey and wanted to return back home to his wife, Faith, but soon realized many of the townspeople were companions with satan. The themes of “Young Goodman Brown” are that religion or religious actions do not make someone righteous and although we have an appeal to live right, there is a small desire to try the “dark side”. Goodman Brown knew right from wrong growing up in the Puritan community, he also had individuals who would teach him the doctrine of his religion; however just like many people, Goodman Brown had to see what it would be like to travel into the wilderness and visit the devil. While Goodman Brown was on his way he begin to hear familiar voices and see familiar people—those who have taught him the “right” way of living. Of course since the wilderness was no place for a saint to be Goodman Brown would hide so that the others could not view him of being in error of the Christian faith. This is how the theme religion

Nathaniel Hawthorne constructs uncertainty throughout Young Goodman Brown by employing plot, point of view, and symbolism. For instance, the deception in plot occur as Young Goodman Brown traverses the threshold. Brown considers Faith to be pure and virtuous; a wicked act to leave such behind. Moreover, while conversing alongside the traveler Brown presumes the ethics of his ancestry and townspeople to be good due to high Faith in people. Brown’s perception shatters as the traveler discloses the sinful acts of the masses.

Since the beginning of time, there has always been day and night, evil and light. Throughout history, the basis of good versus evil has emanated. Good and evil has etched its place in every culture whether taught through passed down stories, depictions written on tablets, stones, or parchment paper. In the story, Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne reveals the traveler as a figure that highlights one goal. Emphasis is placed on the traveler’s methodology as he employ’s several techniques to manipulate and deceive the vulnerabilities of Goodman Brown. Hawthorne carefully stresses the traveler’s demeanor, features, setting and communication methods in detail. What is Hawthorne trying to say about the intricate interaction between Goodman Brown and the traveler?

Finally, Goodman Brown arrives at the initiation ceremony only to be confronted by the image of his wife at the unholy altar. Although Hawthorne never offers any true evidence that Goodman Brownâs experience in the woods was anything more than a dream or hallucination, the Puritan passes judgment on Faith, and forever doubts her goodness. By allowing his audience to internally assess Faithâs guilt or innocence, Hawthorne forces his reader into a role of complicity with Goodman Brown (McFarland 37). Thus, Hawthorne has created a troubling character with both light and dark facets.

In each story the main characters go down a path that brings evil to their lives. While trying to find the plantation in “A Goodman Is Hard to Find”, the

The story begins with Goodman Brown starting out on a journey. Hawthorne does not state what kind of journey or the purpose behind it. By the end of the story I saw it as a journey into Goodman Browns own mind, heart and soul rather than a literal journey. I feel this is the most significant

Hawthorne relates his own experience to share the life of Brown, and he also uses internal conflict to explore Young Goodman Brown’s identity crisis. In the beginning there was a conflict between the husband and wife. There is a slight conflict between the husband and wife as Faith fears danger and does not want Young Goodman Brown to leave her during the night, and this causes the distance between them. It then escalates into a conflict between the good and evil in the world when Young Goodman Brown meets the devil in the forest.

R. W. B. Lewis in “The Return into Time: Hawthorne” states that “there is always more to the world in which Hawthorne’s characters move than any one of them can see at a glance” (77). In Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” this fact is especially true since the main character, Goodman Brown, is a naïve hero and since the narrator tells much of the story through the limited point of view of the protagonist.

The journeys people take and the hardships they face can cause them to grow as a person. The struggles faced and how people choose to overcome them can show the most about a person’s strength and determination. In the story “The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog” Long Arrow goes on a long journey to find the elk dog. Nobody has ever returned and yet he is not afraid. John, the main character in “By the Waters of Babylon,” takes a trip to the place of the god in search of knowledge and wisdom. Jerry’s journey in “Through the Tunnel” causes him to grow up and mature. In these stories Long Arrow, John, and Jerry learn the importance of the journeys they take to become better people.

In the allegorical short story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses suspense and mystery to keep the reader interested. Throughout the story, Hawthorne makes the reader wonder what all the witchcraft, mysticism, and the double-sided lifestyles of the characters really means. Young Goodman Brown may be suspenseful, but the reader also has to look at it from a symbolic point of view. Hawthorne shows that a strong faith can basically make or break a man or a woman. When that strong faith begins to fade away, the world begins to be filled with doubt and second guessing.

In Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’ the main character, Goodman Brown leaves his wife alone for a night to go to a secret meeting in the forest. As it turns out the religious Goodman Brown is actually sneaking off to meet with the Devil. While in the forest with the devil he sees many influential people from town there as well, including his wife. They seem to be about to be taken into the cult when Goodman Brown looks at his wife and begs her to remain with her Faith. Next thing he knows he wakes up like nothing ever happened. Whether this whole experience was a dream or not, it caused young Goodman brown to lose his faith and innocence. Hawthorne expresses this loss of innocence by using setting, symbolism and motifs to build up the story’s theme around Young Goodman Brown’s loss of faith.