Hawthorne’s Ancestral Influence The story, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, appears, on the surface, to be a story about a man who struggles inside himself between good and evil. However, as one analyzes the story deeper, a reader will find it is indeed ambiguous. There have been many interpretations all of which find something different hidden among the passages. Upon deeper analysis, I have discovered many similarities as well as differences with real historical events. Historical events are drawn from Hawthorne’s own Hathorne ancestors and their Puritan roots, The Salem Witch trials, and other evil deeds that are interwoven into the story. In the story, Brown leaves his new wife, Faith, who represents all that is good and …show more content…
When a child loses a parent at such a young age, the imagination replaces the memories. When he was old enough, he began searching for facts to fill in the holes. “He supplemented the images of his father’s nautical life that he gleamed from the logbooks by reading travel narratives, histories, and adventure stories about the exotic regions in which Nathaniel Hathorne had sailed” (Carton 147). Following college, Hawthorne spent “twelve years of self-imposed isolation” (McCabe 7). Hawthorne spent most of that time researching “local New England History” to be used in his literary creations. What Hawthorne discovered was startling. Hawthorne had assumed his “17th Century paternal ancestors” were “yeoman farmers or seafaring men” (McCabe 7). Instead, he discovered they “had been illustrious founders as well as political and religious Puritan leaders of Salem” (McCabe 7). In the story, “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne incorporates little pieces of his paternal ancestral history. The Hathorne family were strict Puritans. He referenced this in the story when he wrote, “We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs” (Hawthorne 1124). The fact that Hawthorne draws inspiration from his ancestors for his stories displays a sense of pride as well as the disappointment he feels about them. “He was proud of their prominence and accomplishments that greatly overshadowed the declining …show more content…
In the story, Brown is walking with the devil who has taken the form of the older version of himself; perhaps, it is his father’s form. Brown wants to stop this journey of evil purpose. He tells the devil, “My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him” (Hawthorne 1124). The devil interrupts him, “I have been as well 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 woman so smartly through the streets of Salem” (Hawthorne 1124). Hawthorne referenced his great- great grandfather’s actions in this passage. However, he changed a few details. William Hathorne was not the constable who actually administered the lashes. He was, however, responsible for the actions of the constable. William Hathorne was the major who issued the warrant. The constable was all too happy to comply. In his story, Hawthorne writes that the grandfather is the constable; because he perhaps believes the guilt should be William Hathorne’s guilt more than the constable. The constable may have enjoyed the task; however, he was doing as he was
“By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places--whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest--where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot” (Hawthorne pg. 21). “Young Goodman Brown”, an American short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, does well to blend together a dark, mysterious storyline with a lesson fixated upon the battle between good and evil. Hawthorne was born into Salem, Massachusetts, a small village whose citizens had once accused and executed each other for being “witches.” During these times, the conflict between good and evil and its effect upon one’s overall happiness took its toll upon the lives of the Puritans of
The story is set in the forest of Salem, Massachusetts, around the time of the witch trials. Goodman Brown is a Puritan, and Salem is a Puritan village appears to be a good Christian community in the beginning of the story. Hawthorne once again criticizes a Puritan community or the religious community of his time through this short story. In this short story, Hawthorne criticizes the Puritans who take the words of Bible without interpretation, and who believe they are pure but inside the evil resides just as in the people they persecute.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in the year 1804 in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts, where to Salem witch trials were conducted. Hawthorne was born in an unforgiving time period, where life revolved around religion and family. Hawthorne’s father died of Yellow Fever in the year 1808. Nathaniel grew up fatherless, which had a lasting effect on who he later became to be. Education at the time was centered on reading and writing, with a heavy religious influence. “The education of the next generation was important to further "purify" the church and perfect social living” (Kizer). However, since his father passed away, there was no other man to instill the Puritan beliefs into young Nathaniel. Hawthorne later on was able to see the culture through a different lens than the people surrounding him, which made him slightly opposed to the Puritan way of life. He became intellectually rebellious; not thinking in the same way that his peers or family was.
... like Hester. He is implying that she is the victim and that the Puritans are actually at fault for this sin. Hawthorne's main goal is to convey the Puritans as sinful and unholy. He does not approve of the sin they hide and he thinks there should be punishment for their actions.
In “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne uses the hypocritical nature of Young Goodman Browns neighbors and friends to show the hypocritical nature of the puritan people. In the story, Young Goodman Brown is led by the devil to a witching party in the woods. At the witching party he sees all the people he thought to be honorable and pious. He sees his minister, and Goody Cloyse, the woman who taught him his catechisms, meeting with the devil. He even sees his wife about to join the commune but doesn’t see whether she does or not because he resists the devil and wakes up by a tree. After witnessing these things in the woods Young Goodman Brown can’t look at the people he loved and looked up to in the same way anymore. He becomes a bitter and distrustful old man because of their hypocr...
As Brown walks away from his new wife Faith he thinks himself to be wretch to leave her at such a time but then reassures his purpose by promising to, "cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven" (Hawthorne 311). This is simply Hawthorne saying that even when doing wrong it can be justified by doing good from now on: the idea of repenting. Then shortly after entering the wood Brown turns back to look behind him and the instant he looks forward again his "guide" is seated at the base of a tree. He lets Brown know he is 15 minutes late by the Old South clock of Boston the man passed on his way to their meeting. The only oddity about this is that they are in Salem. The pair then walk elbow to elbow through the forest until they spot another traveler no more than 50 yards ahead of them. Brown ducks into the wood line to avoid being recognized only to find the passer by to be Goody Cloyse; a woman of the church who represented all that is good. The woman recognizes Browns companion as the devil taken the form of her
The story is set in seventeenth-century Salem, a time and place where sin and evil were greatly analyzed and feared. The townspeople, in their Puritan beliefs, were obsessed with the nature of sin and with finding ways to be rid of it altogether through purification of the soul. At times, people were thought to be possessed by the devil and to practice witchcraft. As punishment for these crimes, some were subjected to torturous acts or even horrible deaths. Thus, Hawthorne’s choice of setting is instrumental in the development of theme.
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.
The puritan roots that ran in the northeastern part of the country was a way that Hawthorne used to show his underlying messages in many of his works. However, as opposed to the previous works that the country produced, Hawthorne’s used the puritan religion as a means to an end, not as an example or testimony of how to live. A keen example of this is in Hawthorne’s 1835 work, “Young Goodman Brown.” The symbolism is evident as first simply from the title. Hawthorne is attempting to write a story about a young, good man, creating this persona by creating the image of a devout person, first hinting at this through his location, Salem (Hawthorne 87). Salem is the location of the witch trials that Hawthorne’s ancestors were a part of, and from this location Hawthorne is showing that Brown is a puritan, but also that he is a part of a society that can lose sight of their shortcomings. This is something that would not be evident in earlier American writings. Writing about the shortcomings of devout people was not widely recognized as religion to these people was life
Hawthorne names his wife Faith. Her name symbolizes the faith in all mankind. Hawthorne describes Faith as “the wife was aptly named” (Hawthorne 1). In the end of Young Goodman Brown, Goodman brown loses his faith and his wife disappears."My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given."(Hawthorne 6). It symbolizes giving into sin and losing faith in the lord. Hawthorne uses allegory when telling the story about losing faith in mankind.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an excellent example of the use of allegories and symbolism as a form of satire on Puritan faith. According to Frank Preston Stearns, author of The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Hawthorne may have intended this story as an exposure of the inconsistency, and consequent hypocrisy, of Puritanism” (Stearns 181). Throughout the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne tries to infuse as many symbols and allegories as he can to enhance the overall meaning of his story. He uses the village, Goodman Brown, Faith, the man in the forest, and the time spent in the forest as either a symbol or an allegory to get his point across that Puritans are not always what they seem to be.
McCabe, Michael E. “The Consequences of Puritan Depravity and Distrust as Historical Context for Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”.”
“Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into the classic battle between good and evil; taking the protagonist, Goodman Brown, on a journey to test the resolve of his faith. Goodman ventures out on his expedition deep into the sinister forest, in order to repudiate the attempt of the devil to sway him from Christianity; a test he believes his devout faith is prepared to confront. Goodman Brown is forever altered in ways unforeseeable by taking a stroll with the ultimate antagonist, the devil himself. The prevailing theme in this literary work, which is common in Hawthorne’s gothic writing, is the realization that evil can infect people who seem perfectly respectable. Throughout the course of his journey, Goodman Brown discovers that even highly reputable people of Salem are vulnerable to the forces of darkness.
The names of the characters Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith are both symbolic. “Young" infers the title character is naive and new at life. Brown’s youth suggests that he is an uncorrupted and innocent young man. Moreover, "Goodman" suggests his self-righteousness thinking he is a good man. Furthermore, "Brown" indicates he is a commoner. Thus, the full name implies he is the average naive and self-righteous Puritan. Faith’s name in the story represents his need to cling to faith. She symbolizes everything that is good and Christian to Goodman Brown. Brown’s marriage to Faith is symbolic of how he clings to faith in good in the world.
In order to grasp the allegory Hawthorne uses in Young Goodman Brown, the story needs to be considered in a way that recognizes the blending of its historical background at the time of the Salem Witch trials and its relationship to religious symbolism within that perspective. By understanding the Puritan beliefs about sin, the forest and their own inherent faith, it becomes easier for the reader to understand the deeper meaning of Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest.