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Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlett Letter, And The House Of Seven Gables

Decent Essays

Young Goodman Brown: Analysis of his faith
Personal experience plays a vital role when authors decide on the certain topics for their stories. A factor like religion may determine an author’s writing style. For example, an author who may have had a Christian upbringing may write about faith, hell, or salvation; in contrast, one who had a negative experience with religion as a child, may hint at departing from their family and finding one’s own religion. A well-known author from the 1800s, Nathaniel Hawthorne, implements his religious upbringing in his stories, “Young Goodman Brown”, “The Scarlett Letter”, and “The House of Seven Gables.” The use of certain thematic elements in “Young Goodman Brown” help readers understand how the main character lost his faith and became bitter towards religious people.
In the year 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Massachusetts Bay colonists; Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning in Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne’s great-grandfather, John Hathorne, had the role of judging during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 (Means). …show more content…

Faith is also young like her husband. Faith is portrayed as a sweet, pure-hearted, innocent woman who represented Goodman Brown’s belief. Her child-like innocence is represented with pink ribbons in her hair throughout the story. Due to the couple being so young and newlyweds, goodman brown was not strong in his faith and therefore dependent on Faith, his wife’s faith to keep them both accountable- Thus, resulting in his own relationship and faith tested (Boonyaprasop 45). When heading into the forest for his exhibition, Goodman Brown was hesitant leaving his wife alone in Salem. In contrast, Faith, his wife, begged him not to go for he may lose his faith. Although Faith was not fully on board with Goodman Brown leaving, she remains whole and hopes he finds the meaning of the exhibition and comes back

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