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Examples Of Evil In Young Goodman Brown

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Young Goodman Brown: Good versus Evil

Throughout Young Goodman Brown and other works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the themes of sin and guilt constantly reoccur. Like many authors, Hawthorne used events in his life as a basis for the stories that he wrote. Hawthorne felt that ones guilt does not die with him/her but is rather passed down through the generations. Hawthorne's great-great uncle was one of the judges during the Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne felt a great sense of guilt because of this. Hawthorne used a great deal of symbolism to depict what would come to be known as the subconscious. In this allegory he used symbolism to speak of a dreamlike process. Hawthorne used the characters and the events of the story to create a …show more content…

This unexpectedly causes Young Goodman Brown to distrust things due to his unexpected decision of occurrence a having gone through either a dream or reality. In Young Goodman Brown, a figurative allegory is taking place. This traditional allegory is different from most others in that it derives from the symbolism of the plot, the setting, and the characters. The sub meaning of this story has social, political, and religious connotations. The characters in this story were often personifications of theoretical emotions such as faith, greed, and evil. The characters names such as "Goodman," "Faith," and "Gookin" are symbolic of religion and are at opposing ends of evil in the story.

On the day of their wedding, Faith, Goodman Brown's wife was wearing pink ribbons in her hair. This was very symbolic of her being childlike and young. Also, everything that has to do with her is about her doubting herself and her relationship with Young Goodman Brown. It was important for Hawthorne to show the youth in these two characters. This was another religious reference. In the bible it states "Who ever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not receive it at all." (Hawthorne, 635) This means that it is important to be like a child and be content without knowing everything else that is out there. It also means that if one is on a quest for knowledge then he/she does not leave room for someone else to be

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