Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and A Worn Path, by Eudora Welty, are two distinct stories with similar elements. Young Goodman Brown and A Worn Path are both short stories that share similar elements, such as: point of view, characterization, conflict, protagonists, setting, symbolism, and irony. Both stories also differ in elements such as: conflict, setting, epiphany, and theme.
Young Goodman Brown is about a “good” man who goes through a journey returning as a man of depression, distrustfulness, and incapable of joy. The journey he has taken through the dark forest has changed him. He leaves his wife one evening to venture out into the forest of Salem to “run an errand,” when in reality, he is going to meet the devil. During
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They are told in third person limited point of view. Third person limited point of view is a method of narration where the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while the other characters are presented externally. Another similarity between the two stories is the conflict. Goodman Brown and Phoenix Jackson, both the main characters and the protagonist of the stories, experience similar conflicts. Goodman Brown experiences a moral conflict. He knows that walking into the forest constitutes evil because devilish actions and people lurk amongst the dark. Yet, Brown still continues to take on that journey and therefore experiences a moral conflict. Even though he knows it is wrong to venture into the dark forest, he decides to do so because of his curiosity and the fact that his father and grandfather took on that same journey. Similarly, Phoenix Jackson experiences a moral conflict as well. When the white stranger accidentally drops a nickel to the ground, her morals are conflicted with stealing the nickel, instead of returning it to him. Because she ended up not doing the right thing, she Phoenix experienced a moral …show more content…
Both protagonists are round characters. A round character is a complex person that undergoes development throughout the story, sometimes to surprise the reader. Goodman Brown exemplifies a round character because by day, he is a good-mannered Puritan, but by night he is an aspiring devil-worshipper for going into the “evil” forest. Phoenix Jackson is also a round character because of her surprising physical abilities of successfully traveling through the long distance, overcoming many
Young Goodman Brown is about a young, newly wedded man who leaves his wife, Faith, and to go on a journey into the forest one night. Young Goodman Brown has an innocent and maybe even naïve soul and was looked upon by townspeople as a “silly fellow” (Hawthorne 83). He is accompanied by a mysterious, older man who is later on revealed to be the devil. As they are walking, Young Goodman Brown tries to turn back several times and at one point succeeds in getting rid of the devil. However, when he sees that even his wife has surrendered to the same evil path that he was on, he stops resisting and continues into the forest. He ends up at a witches’ sabbath where he sees familiar faces of people whom he previously looked up to for spiritual guidance; he also finds Faith there and becomes devastated. In the end, he cries out to resist the devil and then wakes up to find himself alone in the forest.
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.
The main character, Goodman Brown is introduced as a well-mannered man who is happily married to Faith. Initially, the language such as "sunset" and "pink ribbons" symbolizes light and a positive environment in Salem Village, where the story takes place. Then, as Goodman Brown journeys through the woods, changes in the environment make him change the way in which he sees the world and people around him.
The protagonist in the story would be Goodman Brown because he was the one who was on a path to staying true to his faith, but he was tested along the way through the forest. The antagonist would be the devil because the devil was trying to tempt Goodman Brown to follow him to the devil’s altar. The devil was the one who had put people like Goody Cloyse, the minister, the deacon, and with his wife Faith to tempt him along the way. The devil did all of
The protagonist of this short story is Phoenix Jackson. She is portrayed as a lively person because of the vivid color descriptions given by the author. Her complexion is described to have yellow, golden and copper colors. This colors state she is a black woman. The author uses imagery to shows us that Phoenix is
The next character is Young Goodman Brown himself. His name also becomes a multilayered metaphor. Being known as “young” represents Goodman Browns innocence and virtue. He is also condensed to represent his own consciousness. But, by leaving his wife, Faith, Young Goodman Brown is giving into the unconscious. "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" (Kelly, 191). Taking this path that closes behind him represents Young Goodman’s decent into the unconscious and his loss of innocence. On this journey he soon meets a man who is a condensation of several different factors. The man represents the devil, as well as Brown unconscious mind.
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.
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short fictional story first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1941. Welty was an American short-story writer and novelist. Welty was a photographer before she started writing, so her stories were as detailed as her photographs. Some recurring themes she used in her literary pieces were social prejudice, isolation, and southern living. This short story includes these common themes she favored throughout her work.
Young Goodman Brown goes into the forest at first with only a small expectation of what he is going to experience. Of his fellow Puritan society he sees the bad seeds as well as supposed men and women of the utmost regard. He sees virgin girls filled with reverence and innocence, and even members of the church present at the devil’s ceremony. This causes Young Goodman Brown to question his entire upbringing and trust in his society. It creates...
We are told of Phoenix?s journey into the woods on a cold December morning. Although we are know that she is traveling through woodland, the author refrains from telling us the reason for this journey. In the midst of Phoenix?s travels, Eudora Welty describes the scene: ?Deep, deep the road went down between the high green-colored banks. Overhead the live-oaks met, and it was as dark as a cave? (Welty 55). The gloomy darkness that the author has created to surround Phoenix in this scene is quite a contrast to the small Negro woman?s positive outlook; Phoenix is a very determined person who is full of life. As Phoenix begins to walk down the dark path, a black dog approaches her from a patch of weeds near a ditch. As he comes toward her, Phoenix is startled and compelled to defend herself: ?she only hit him a little with her cane. Over she went in the ditch, like a little puff of milk-weed? (55). Here, the author contrasts the main character?s strong will with her small, frail phys...
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism throughout his short story Young Goodman Brown to impact and clarify the theme of good people sometimes doing bad things. Hawthorne uses a variety of light and dark imagery, names, and people to illustrate irony and different translations. Young Goodman Brown is a story about a man who comes to terms with the reality that people are imperfect and flawed and then dies a bitter death from the enlightenment of his journey through the woods. Images of darkness, symbolic representations of names and people and the journey through the woods all attribute to Hawthorne's theme of good people sometimes doing bad things.
Two young men, two journeys, and two instances that evil discovers victory. Young Goodman Brown, along with My Kinsman, Major Molinuex, lay out a story of a gentleman setting out on an adventure, facing numerous obstacles along his path. Meeting face to face with Satan, as well as his temptations, the men fight a majority off; however in the end, the battle is lost. Young Goodman Brown and Robin share many similarities in their decisions, despite the fact that the two hold unique characteristics to themselves. The audience can identify these resemblances through the shared archetypes of Haven vs. Wilderness, The Journey being taken, and the battle of good and evil amongst the two. Hawthorne achieves these through the
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.
Late one night he finds himself in the middle of the woods with the Devil, on his way to a meeting of the Devil's followers. After seeing respected townsfolk at the Devil's meeting, including his minister and his wife, Faith, he loses hope in humanity and all that he had known to be true or real. Goodman Brown wakes up in his bed immediately following the Devil's meeting and wonders if what had happened was reality or simply just a dream. Despite his confusion about the events that took place, he was unable to forget what had happened and lost faith in religion and his com... ...