Diversity in Young Goodman Brown, Ethan Brand, and The Birthmark
"... it is no delusion. There is an Unpardonable Sin!" , a quote
by Ethan Brand that is at the root of many stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Nathaniel Hawthornes gloomy, dark style of writing is an emphasis on his theme
of evil at societies heart. Writing about what he knew, Hawthorne described the
puritan society in different periods of time and defined different characters
but all connected through his style. The stories that exemplify the diversity
of Hawthornes writing are "Young Goodman Brown", " Ethan Brand", and "The
Birthmark".
Having read these stories it is possible to become engrossed in
the darkness that is portrayed and none is better than "Young Goodman Brown" .
Young Goodman Brown, the character, is first introduced to us in the clearing of
Salem village and we learn that he has faith in the goodness of the village and
Faith for his companion as well. The people that we meet in Salem village in
the first few paragraphs are just Goodman and Faith. These two characters are
very important to understand for their surface characters or illusional
characters. It is soon learned that Goodman Brown is not such a good man and
later Faith shows us just as much false character. Goodman and Faith are not
the only characters that are not all they seem to be. We come to meet more
characters in the short story that are superficial as is the village itself.
Goodman Brown leaves the bright, warm, goodness of his village to make a journey
in the woods to meet a stranger. A good place to meet a stranger would be
these surrounding woods of Salem for it is here that described by Nathaniel
Hawthorne that "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." and like the scheming mind of an evil person
the dark woods leads one down the wrong pathway.
The woods are not an allusion as was the village, the woods are
exactly what they seem to be therefore the characters met inside the woods will
Folsom explains that there are two kinds to entrepreneurs, market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs. He also states "no entrepreneur fits perfectly into one category or the other, but most fall generally into one category"(1).
Hill a market engineer was known best for being the builder of the Great Northern railroad. He was the onl y entrepreneur in the ninetiinth century who did not get any goverment funds to build his rail roads. His philosophy guided him to succeed and flourish through all the depression and fierce competion, receiving no tax payers dollars. He build the most efficient railroad lines, building the line straight as possible, taking in consideration the best elevations and useing the highest quality bessemer rails. Because he took no Federal aid he formed private contracts with Indian reservations in North Dakota and Montana. Doing this let him cut fuel costs alot and made rail repairs very low. He also Promoted exports, by giving land to immigrant along the line and showed them how to farm. He did experiments on what could be grown and how to produce it in the best way and the best quality. Doing this he was able to export wheat from the farms and also increase the population of the region. Then another thing that made him strive was he only expanded as profits allowed. He moved way slower than the other railroad companys, but when he was done his finances were well in order and sound. He was able to buy out St. Paul and Pacific Rail, also he invested 6 million dollars into 2 steamships and began exporting products from america to china, India, and Japan. this increased Us exports to japan from 7.7 million dollars to 51.7 million dollars in nine years. Also supplying
characterizes the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America and it is valid that they would be properly distinguished as corrupt “robber barons”.
Rosenthal. Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge Mass: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
story takes place in Salem in 1692, during the Salem witch trials. The story starts
Reverend Hale is believed to be a witch hunter of sorts. He believes himself to be a specialist and othe...
Vanderbilt sought to limit competition by creating business trusts and lowering prices in order to monopolize other railroad and steamboat businesses. In the steamboat industry, while Vanderbilt was working for Gibbons, he was able to lower ticket prices to an obscenely low amount by making the cost of food on the boat higher. Other steamboat companies viewed this as illegal because the government regulated the cost of the tickets and Vanderbilt was going below to regulatory cost. Finally after much dis...
The children of Salem did not have many forms of entertainment, especially during the winter. There were no movies or radios, and the adults were always busy with work. Many took to reading as a form of entertainment. The young people of the town became interested in books about fortune telling and prophecies. Some formed a circle led by Tituba, slave...
Young Goodman Brown and Endicott and the Red Cross and two short stories that, I believe, have many subliminal messages. The author of both, Nathanial Hawthorne, uses symbolism many a time to bring across these messages along with his personal beliefs of life, and the people of the 17th century. Religion is the basis of both stories. Both men go against religion. So what is an American? Not necessarily someone that goes against religion, but stands up for their rights, for what they want.
In 1692 the area of Salem town and Salem village became very vulnerable to conflict. Severe weather such as hurricanes had damaged land and crops, the effects of King Phillips War began to impact New England society, and colonists were being forced off of the frontiers by Native peoples. The Church and the government were in heavy conflict. And those residing in Salem began to grow suspicious of one another when some prospered and others hadn’t (Marcus, p13).
The thoroughness is one of its key strengths, allowing for people of varying knowledge about Salem to gain an understanding of the events and background of the witch trials. The author includes multiple sources to show the exceptionally varying ideals and their effects on Salem. “the peace that came under Joseph Green's conciliatory leaders... the important role religious strife played in the events of 1692”(Latner, 2006, 118). Joseph Green completely paralleled his predecessors, he was responsible for restoring order to Salem. This is significant because it shows the impact that ministers had, they had the power to change the town completely, Green was one of the first to not cause strife. Compared to Christine Leigh Heyrman’s “Witchcraft in Salem Village: Intersections of Religion and Society” Latner’s article correlates with the central idea that religious leaders and religion itself started the witch
...oom" (pg. 100). His life was changed so drastically during that one night that he could never forget it. Through the Hero's journey, Hawthorne shows the development of Young Goodman Brown as he discovers his true nature as evil. He comes to terms with the reality that humans are evil creatures, no matter how honorable or innocent they may seem.
[This is an introduction sentence, wow amazing, I can’t believe I made it to the third page.] I believe that if John Winthrop were to suddenly come back to life in order to witness the Salem witch trials, he would first consider it the work of the devil, then later disapprove of the actions taken by Parris and his supporters. In order to break down this argument, one must draw upon Winthrop’s sermon, A Modell of Christian Charity, and his traditional Puritan values.
Clark, Virginia P., Paul A. Eschholz, and Alfred F. Rosa. Language: Introductory Readings. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. Print.
Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...