Young Goodman Brown Literary Analysis

Young Goodman Brown is a short story where the main purpose is to show the social issue of religion during the Puritan time. Although the author Nathaniel Hawthorne had not being living in that time, he came from a long line of Puritans. He wrote Young Goodman Brown to show the flaws of the Puritans’ view of religion. They made God seem heartless and mean spirited, someone who just used humans for entertainment. The short story Young Goodman Brown demonstrates that people should test their faith of their religious beliefs and even people considered upright can fall short of their own religious faiths from temptations and imperfections. In addition, the story shows that there is some degree of evil nature in everyone because of the freewill

The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate the types of characters present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown illustrates vividly how society and culture can very much influence a person's sense of identity and belonging, or in the case of Young Goodman Brown the lack thereof. Being a Puritan man in a society that scorned the ways of witches and the devil, Young Goodman Brown grew up with a very pious outlook on life. Yet when it occurs to him to look at life a little bit differently, Young Goodman Brown receives more than he has bargained for. The journey he embarks on sheds a whole new light on his society that not only creates a struggle between himself and his fellow men but also one within himself.

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the fragility of humans when it comes to their morality. Goodman Brown goes on a journey through the forest with the devil to watch the witches’ ritual and observes the evil in the Puritan society. He loses his faith as he sees the people he respects the most participating in the sinful ritual. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes setting, and symbolism in his short story “Young Goodman Brown,” to show how a person’s perspective can change by showing the hypocritical nature of the Puritan society

Nathaniel Hawthorne comes from a bloodline that is associated with the Salem witch trials in 1692. His great-great-grandfather was a puritan that took part in the executions during the witch trilas, explaining Hawthorne’s fondness with the religion. Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his interest in the News England Puritan past. Most of Hawthorne’s writings implement the Puritan ways and faith in which most of the characters act upon or main faith is revolved around. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Scarlet Letter” are both one of Hawthorne’s many pieces that are prime examples of the Puritan religion affecting his writing. Through the story Hawthorne uses many allegories representing Christian, but also puritan faith and many symbols relating to them also.

In the story of Young Goodman Brown, as a reader we see many circumstances where Hawthorne uses irony in straightforward situations. I have learned from reading several of the author’s works that it is up to the reader to decide the meaning behind his stories. In this paper, I will be discussing the significance of the title, Young Goodman Brown and how I believe there is more to the story than what Hawthorne writes. Young Goodman Browns journey within the forest revealed truths not only within him, but within human nature and society. On page, 1103 Goodman Brown states “there may be a devilish Indian behind every tree.”

deeper meanings than what the reader can see on the surface. The allegorical meaning is the writer’s real purpose in writing the narrative so that a lesson can be found when reading below the surface. “Young Goodman Brown”, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a perfect example of an allegorical story and is filled with many symbolic elements.

        Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale “Young Goodman Brown” is replete, is saturated, with irony. This essay will amply illustrate the validity of this statement.

Nathaniel Hawthorne crafts an overtly biblical atmosphere in “Young Goodman Brown,” the main character grappling with inner temptation and shocking revelations and realizations. While struggling with temptation, Goodman Brown learns the hypocritical nature of Puritan religion along with the realization that evil lurks in all mens’ hearts, including his own. One revelation is left up to the reader to discern although, being that the loss of innocence is inevitable. The Puritan religion is incontrovertibly hypocritical.

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.

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a complex tale with many hidden meanings and themes. Hawthorne uses literary devices to propel his story further into speculation of the unknown world. In his essay, Fogle uses examples of irony and symbols of opposites to convey the mystery behind Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Without both ambiguity and clarity, the story would not portray an atmosphere of doubt which is at the core of Hawthorne’s tale.

Darkness, confusion, and terror are some words that come to mind when thinking of the setting in this writing piece. The story has a way of getting the theme across that seems very extreme, partly with its vast use of symbolism. The tale comes down to a single central theme. The story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that anyone is susceptible to a change in beliefs, and everyone's lives can be affected from the act of being caught off guard.

     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.

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the dark setting backdrop in a forest of the colonial times in Salem, Massachusetts, features detailed symbolism, and abundant uses of dramatic, verbal, and situational irony to show the weak morals of the human nature in order to help people understand the fact that this life is the only one we have.

“Young Goodman Brown” is a short story written by an American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. This story is immersed with assumptions that leaves the reader to wonder why the reason the author chose to leave the reader speculating. For instance, what’s the significance of the story’s action taking place mostly at night, in the woods. Well, being in the dark could signify evil, or fear. As a child, most kids could not go to sleep without the light on, for fear of the dark. When we think of ghost, or the devil it implies darkness and with that comes fear. Clearly, Nathaniel Hawthorn had intended to create a fearful tone in his story. Another element that made this story even more suspense was that it also took place in the woods. These two