In the story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author describes a young couple living in Salem, Massachusetts. The setting is important because Salem is famous for its “Witch Trails “ which suggests that either sin or evil is beneath the beautiful relationship . The characters are Goodman and Faith . The author reveals that Goodman ,like his name ,is a good man and Faith is faithful wife . From the very beginning of the story the author states that the wife, Faith, fears her dreams. Faith bad dreams suggest that there is something evil and supernatural about Goodman’s journey. Goodman Brown leaves his wife for a night journey that reveal his fears of the forest and of evil. Early in the story, on his journey through the forest, …show more content…
The pink ribbon that Faith wore in her hair symbolizes the faith and innocence. This is the moral or good feelings that Goodman Brown has throughout the story. Freud would describe that the ribbon incites his Superego. The Super-Ego often leads to feelings of guilt. Goodman meets a man on his journey with devil’s serpent staff, which resembles a black serpent. The author states, “. the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent” (2). This staff symbolizes supernatural and sinful nature. This represents the evil or immoral thought that Goodman has throughout the story. Freud would describe the staff as a symbol of Goodman’s ID. The ID is unconscious feeling, always aiming for pleasure. Goodman Ego is always struggling between good versus evil. His Ego balances the ID’s passions and operates according to the Superego moral principles. Goodman journey symbolism his decision to lose faith in goodness and become a sinner or resist evil and have the moral strength to live a good life. Another symbol the author reveals in the story is threshold of the Goodman house. The threshold of the house symbolizes a turning point in the story. Goodman could choose the to listen to Faith and stay home as a good husband or leave on his journey to explore his evil …show more content…
They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you for their sake” (2).
This reveals to Goodman that his family had an history of evil and he was not aware that evil lurked around his family.
Young Goodman Brown wife, Faith, played a significant role in his struggle between good versus evil. Faith represents the stability of home and is the most pure-hearted person in the story. Goodman refers to her as “she is a blessed angel on earth “(2). Goodman tries to remain good for his wife because he doesn’t want to hurt her. He states “With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil” (5) On his journey as along he has Faith and her goodness, he can turn away from the devil. At the end of his journey he realizes that Faith is involved in the devil worshiping. After seeing Faith and what she had become he said, “my Faith is gone!” (6) This statement could be both literal and symbolic. He lost his wife and he lost his faith in humanity. The author reveals that everyone has evil and everything is not what it seems to
In the short story Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbolism plays a vital role in the interpretation of the events of the story by the audience. In a work that is apparently never what it seems, drawing upon these symbols for clarity helps to provide the audience with additional depth to the deception that Goodman Brown feels. When going on his errand into the forest one night, Goodman Brown encounters the devil disguised as a man which is the beginning of his demonic encounters. The meeting symbolizes the start of his downward slope into the loss of faith of those around him and his own religious beliefs as well. He navigates the dark and chilling forest only to ultimately end up in the middle of it alone, which represents his journey through life after his revelation about the people in his community that night. His new found beliefs cause a projection of his own internal evil feelings upon his new wife faith. A woman who he once adored and had complete faith in just like her name, he now becomes very distant with and hardly acknowledges. His distance is due...
The pink ribbons on Faiths cap represent faith and playfulness. This is kind of ironic considering her name is Faith and the pink ribbons also mean faith. Faith's pink ribbons are the symbol for the good in the story and show that there is faith with Goodman Brown. "Faith! Faith!" cried the husband. "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!" (68) Goodman Brown tries to receive the good from Faith while he is surround by evil. Faith seems to be one of the few "good" symbols in the story and just happens to be Goodman Browns wife. "My faith is gone!"(50)cried he. When Goodman Brown
To begin, the introduction to Goodman Brown begins with introducing characters that seem to exemplify youthfulness, earnestness, and innocence. Interactions between Goodman and Faith, such as the "parting kiss" (Hawthorne 239), and even the description of Faith, whose cap contains pink ribbons that the wind plays with contains a sense of whimsy and playfulness that sets the reader up thinking of the young couple in positive terms. However, Goodman changes this quickly with his discussion of leaving, as well as his parting. At this point, we see the conflict within the characterization of Goodman Brown emerge, referring to himself as "a wretch...to leave her on such an errand" (239), a contrast to the initial idea presented of him. This is the beginning of what interested me so much, as the appearance of Goodman Brown was presented ambiguously and painted to be "good" by his interactions with Faith, who was described in a bit more detail.
In Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, the main character, Young Goodman Brown, jumped to the conclusion that everyone in his village was working with the devil after he had a dream about a meeting in the forest. The first piece of evidence that Young Goodman Brown jumped to conclusion is how he treated his wife when he came back from the forest compared to how he treated his wife in the beginning. In the beginning, Faith was “a blessed angel” (“Young Goodman Brown” 1) and he said when he got back he would follow her to heaven. Then afterward, often at mi...
During Goodman Brown’s journey, he recognized Goody Cloyse, his catechism teacher, the preacher, and Deacon Gookin is going to the devil’s meeting. However, after seeing his church members at the devil’s meeting, Goodman says, “My Faith is gone! and There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come devil! for to thee is this world given” (Hawthorne 27). “But, where is Faith?”, asked Goodman Brown (Hawthorne 29). As hope came into his heart, he trembled when he found the pink ribbon of his wife, Faith, in the forest. At that moment, Goodman Brown lost his faith in his family and church members. Goodman becomes unforgiving of others and believes only evil can be created from evil and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it. Here, Hawthorne demonstrates that a naive faith in our family, friends, and church member’s righteousness could lead to distrust. While, “Young Goodman Brown” lives a long life with Faith, he never loses his meanness toward humanity and the evil in the world, “for his dying hour was gloom” (Hawthorne
The first time that Goodman Brown was approached by the Dark figure who is the devil himself in the forest and he told him why he is late, Goodman Brown replies, “Faith kept me back a while”(Hawthorne). Hawthorne once again uses the wife to symbolize young Goodman Brown's own faith, he shows us that Goodman Brown had to compromise it to even start into the forest. Goodman Brown sees many of the characters making their way toward the meeting place and is surprised to see that many of them are people of great stature, both in the religious and governmental society. Here, Hawthorne shows that all people are sinners, no matter how they appear outwardly or what position they hold in society. When Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse he was also shocked to see her he states “should be so far in the wilderness at nightfall” (Hawthorne) in contrast to the fact Close is his spiritual adviser who had taught him his catechism, and cannot believe she would be out this late.
In the story "Young Goodman Brown", Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a dream to illustrate a young man’s loss of innocence, understanding of religion and his community. Through this dream, the main character Young Goodman realizes that the people that he surrounds himself with are not who he believes them to be. The story of “Young Goodman Brown” focuses on the unconscious mind. The characters in this short-story are able to represent the struggle of Young Goodman’s superego, ego, and id. Representing the superego is Young Goodman’s wife Faith.
As he traveled through the gloomy woods, he knew what he was going to see, but still wanted to witness what happens in the ceremony at the same time he wanted nothing to do with the devil “it is my purpose to return whence I came” Goodman wanting to turn back to the village couldn’t because the old man kept telling him about his father, Goodman wanted to know more. After he finished his conversation he started to return home when he thought he heard Faith’s voice, so he went and grabbed the staff “Goodman Brown grasp his staff and set forth, at such a rate that he seemed to fly along the forest path”, right at that moment his spiritual faith had become corrupted for the worse. Goodman not sure what to believe anymore, he has a moral dilemma between his thinking everyone is a follower of the devil, and seeing the good in
Faith can be defined, as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man who leaves his wife, Faith, at home alone for a night while he takes a walk down the road of temptation with the devil. Along the road he sees many people that he would never expect to see on this road, his wife included. He returns to his life in Salem a changed man. In "Young Goodman Brown" Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and characterization to imply that when individuals lose their faith in the goodness of mankind, they may begin to imagine that their peers have yielded to temptation.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different people as symbols throughout "Young Goodman Brown." The largest symbolic roles in the story are goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Both of the characters' names are symbolic and representative of their personalities. "'With Heaven above and Faith below, I will stand firm against the devil!' cried goodman Brown," is just one of many quotes that directly relates goodman Brown's personality with his name (189). Goodman Brown is truly a good man. Faith, goodman Brown's wife, also has a name that is indicative of her nature. The story directly supports this point in the phrase "Faith, as the wife was aptly named . . . " (184). Faith is persistent in trying to keep goodman Brown off the path of sin in the first part of the story: " . . . pr'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night" (184). Hawthorne does an excellent job of turning the main characters into symbols that are prominent throughout the story.
Regarding the theme, the clues increase when Goodman, having left his wife, Faith, all alone and melancholy, enters the woods and encounters a sinister type with whom he has previously made an appointment for this particular evening:
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.
The short story, "Young Goodman Brown" is a fascinating rendition of the battle between good and evil. The reader must delve into the depths of his/her own beliefs to understand what the symbolism is. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes an entire lesson in life as one big symbol using allegory. The various examples are fruitful and will be presented throughout this essay.
Goodman Brown, a young man who was only married for three months, left his home and his wife, Faith, to go into the forest and spend the night on some mission that he will not explain. Even though Faith has strong feelings about his journey and begs him not to leave, Brown has made his decision and leaves everything behind. Faith is appropriately named, because she represents Browns faith and what he believes in. The name is genuine, religious and hopeful. It represents the good side of Brown and his hope for life. He feels bad for leaving her because he knows what he is about to do is evil and goes against his faith. Brown swears that after this night he will be good and not do anything evil again and vow his life to Faith. Brown is upset about leaving her because he knows that what he is about to do in the forest is evil and goes against his Faith. Hawthorne describes Browns journey as "crossing the threshold", meaning that he is going from one part of his life to another, he is leaving the genuine good side to go to the bad evil side.
Goodman Brown heads into the forest for an undetermined journey. Which is assumed that he is going out to do one last act of sin then come back and stay faithful to his wife Faith. Goodman Brown 's wife Faith is a symbol for his religious faith. Before his voyage he is held up by Faith. " 'pr 'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone women is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she 's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!" ' (Hawthorne ). Goodman Brown goes on his journey in the woods and when he talks to the man that he comes across in the forest he says that he knows Goodman Brown 's family. " 'Well said, Goodman Brown! I have been as wee acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that 's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker women so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, In King Philip 's War. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you, for their sake. '" (Hawthorne ). Goodman Brown then begins to see all of the