The story of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, told us about the conflict of a naive young boy that believe blindly in Faith, without taking into account the imperfect nature of man.
Additionally, Y.G.B fallen down on his wife, teacher and spiritual guide so bad that he disturbed and elude all of them.
Furthermore, N.H., who wrote Y.G.B, lived in Salem, MA in 1804 on the fourth of July, in the Puritan period influenced the history of Y.G.B as his own biography.
In Young Goodman Brown, N.H. uses symbols, figurative language, allusion, and setting to illustrate how humans should not blindly follow religious institutions.
N.H. creates the character Faith; Y.G.B.’s wife to symbolize innocence and purity of humans when believe in superior
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uses black mass of clouds as a figurative language to increase vitality and impact on the reader creating an atmosphere of uncertainty, sin, and manipulation “The blue sky was still visible, except directly overhead, where this black mass of cloud was sweeping swiftly northward. Aloft in the air, as if from the depths of the cloud came a confused and doubtful sound of voices”
N.H. uses words as sunset and night, dreary road, gloomiest tress, narrow path creeping through, lonely, peculiarity in solicitude to create the mood of the setting in the story to recreate an atmosphere of sin, hell. “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. It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude” N.H. knows that his detailed words will recreate the path that people see when they are in sin.
N.H. Uses the staff- black serpent and the old man that looking much like him but older as allusion to illustrate that Good and Evil are inside every one of us;
With Y.G.B that to illustrate the concept of evil characterized his writing as a “romances” confronting the reality rather than evading
The use of symbolism in "young Goodman Brown" shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this short story. Hawthorne's works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements. "Young Goodman Brown" deals mostly with conventional allegorical elements, such as Young Goodman Brown and Faith. In writing his short stories or novels he based their depiction of sin on the fact that he feels like his father and grandfather committed great sins. There are two main characters in this short story, Faith and Young Goodman Brown. "Young Goodman Brown is everyman seventeenth-century New England the title as usual giving the clue. He is the son of the Old Adam, and recently wedded to Faith. We must note that every word is significant in the opening sentence: "Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street of Sale, Village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young w2ife.
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 was an extraordinary writer, who used real life experiences in every one of his stories. However, growing up in a Puritan society during a reformation gave Hawthorne a distorted view on God’s character. Hawthorne was intelligent, but by no means a people person, which created a pathway for him to become an author. There were a few key points in his life growing in a religion zealous society that lead him to abandon his faith. Hence, the short story of “Young Goodman Brown” representing that humans are cynical and evil, and the dangers of losing your faith in God.
In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism. Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young Goodman Brown is unable to accept the indefinable vision of betrayal and evil that he encounters in the forest. The uncertainty of this vision, enhanced by Hawthorne's deliberate, yet effective, use of ambiguity, is also seen in the character of Faith, the shadows and darkness of the forest, and the undetectable boundaries that separate nightmarish dreams from reality.
This essay will analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” to determine the central conflict in the tale, its climax and partial resolution, using the essays of literary critics to help in this interpretation.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “”Young Goodman Brown” is an allegorical piece that cautions against the potential of human evil. Hawthorne believed the most evil thing a person could do was deliberately harden his heart, to disregard others’ emotions entirely and therefore their humanity. In the story, young goodman Brown commits this unpardonable sin. He through on many separate occasions decided to continue a wicked journey, when it did not end exactly the way he wanted, he ended his relationship with Faith. Hawthorne uses symbols to demonstrate and hopefully prevent people from turning into young goodman Brown. Hawthorne chronicles Brown’s departure, his journey through the woods, and his arrival at the ceremony.
In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of a man and his discovery of evil. Hawthorne’s primary concern is with evil and how it affects Young Goodman Brown. Through the use of tone and setting, Hawthorne portrays the nature of evil and the psychological effects it can have on man. He shows how discovering the existence of evil brings Brown to view the world in a cynical way. Brown learns the nature of evil and, therefore, feels surrounded by its presence constantly.
In conclusion, it is obvious that there is a proliferation of familiar literary motifs in “Young Goodman Brown.”
The evil nature of this individual is made manifest, and thus evil enters the story in a significant way.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, Goodman Brown struggles with staying pure and not giving in to the devil. Hawthorne utilizes allegory and ambiguity to leave unanswered questions for the reader.
...er swell of those familiar tones, heard daily in the sunshine, at Salem village, but never, until now from a cloud of night.? (202) The use of light and dark imagery in this particular sentence helps you understand Goodman Brown?s despair. He has realized the truth that the people he sees in the daylight hours pretending to be pure and good are the total opposite in the dark.
The clash between good and evil has been a prominent theme in literature. The Bible presents the conflict between good and evil in the story of Adam and Eve. Many authors use the scene in the Bible in which the snake taunts and tempts Adam and Eve to take a bite of the apple of knowledge to demonstrate the frailty of humankind. John Gardner provides these same biblical allusions of good and evil in his novel, Grendel.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegorical story “Young Goodman Brown” is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late sixteen hundreds in a time of religious hysteria and only a few generations after the infamous witch trials. Although "Young Goodman Brown" is a fictional tale, it is based on the cynical environment of Salem during this time period. The short story is filled with many literary elements, leading you to question what did exactly happen to the main character at the conclusion. When analyzing a story like "Young Goodman Brown", one must recognize that the story is at whole symbolic. In the text, symbols are used to uncover the truth of the characters. The role of Faith as both a character and a spiritual element are crucial to both the story and the character of Young Goodman Brown.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown,” the author uses danger and mystery to represent the struggle of good versus evil. Young Goodman Brown journeys into the night and comes to realize an unforgiving truth. Everyone is in danger of abandoning their faith or is inherently evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne has filled this story symbolism, after reading this story the reader may have questions about Young Goodman Browns’ determination to journey towards his evil purpose. Nathaniel Hawthorne implies strong faith can endure but when that faith is destroyed, what view does a person have towards mankind? Let us take a look at Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of significant symbols throughout “Young Goodman Brown.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory, though an allegory with deficiencies, with tensions existing between the reader and the story.