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. 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. Hawthorne uses ambiguity throughout Young Goodman Brown. …show more content…
The world outside of the village, outside of the normal boundaries of what is right and wrong for the puritans and outside of Brown 's comfort zone. Goodman Brown “glanced fearfully behind him” (Hawthorne 1) and said “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!" (Hawthorne 1) as he walked through the forest to meet the traveler. Hawthorne never tells the reader that Goodman Brown is going to a witch meeting. He only gives you evidence to support the fact that he shouldn’t be going there. “ We have been a race of honest men and good Christians.” (Hawthorne 2). Goodman tells the traveler when they are following the path in the forest. “shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kept”(Hawthorne 2) . "There is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart; and I 'd rather break my own." (Hawthorne 3). Goodman Brown knew where he was going would crush his Faith, but he never says that is was a witch meeting. Young Goodman Brown is an allegorical story. Hawthorne uses a lot of ambiguity. Hawthorne uses ambiguity to make his story allegorical. Hawthorn uses Faith to symbolize all of the faith in mankind, the forest to represent Goodman Brown getting out of his comfort zone, and
First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story titled “Young Goodman Brown”. “Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society” (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne’s own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers that he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him. So, in search for the answer to his questions about life, he turns to the devil and takes his...
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory. Hawthorne’s moral story is told through the perversion of a religious leader, Goodman Brown. Goodman is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil. The result is that Goodman lives the rest of his life in exile within his own community.
In Hawthorne’s story, “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown ventures on a journey into the forest and refuses the temptations of the devil. Unfortunately though, throughout the night, Brown finds out more than he ever wanted to know about how his fellow Puritan townsmen, including his wife, have betrayed their faith by giving into their dark desires. In utter despair, Goodman Brown returns at dawn to his Salem village “staring around him like a bewildered man.” (Hawthorne, pg.275) He doesn’t believe it is the same place as it was the night before and he no longer feels at home. Whether his experiences were real or not, his faith is gone and he feels as though he is the only pure one. He suffers tremendous guilt and discomfort and trusts no one. His excessive pride is evident when he takes a child away from a blessing given by Goody Cloyse, his former catechism teacher, as if he were taking the child “from the fiend himself.” (Hawthorne, pg.276) His distrust and resentment towards his townsmen is apparent when he sees his wife, Faith. She is overwhelmed with joy to see him arrive home yet he looked “sternly and sadly into her face and passed on without a greeting.” (Hawthorne, pg.276) All that he learned in the night was too much for him, and it changed a devoted husband with bright hopes and a wife whom he loved, to a tired, beaten, questioning and almost faithless man.
...ssed though the use of setting, foreshadowing, and symbolism. William Graham Sumner once said “Men never cling to their dreams with such tenacity as at the moment when they are losing faith in them, and know it, but do not dare yet to confess it to themselves.” (brainyquote.com). This statement holds many truths to the thoughts and actions of the young Goodman Brown in Hawthorne’s allegorical story. Brown was quick to go on his foreboding quest, knowing what his meeting with the devil may lead to, and only when threatened and scared attempted to turn back to hold on to both Faith physically and psychologically. Whether his journey into the forest was an illusion or not, Brown’s perception of faith in society have been dramatically altered, as he may have lost all faith in humanity.
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.
The setting of the forest is that of darkness, dreariness, disillusionment, perhaps symbolizing one's path for the journey through life. Faith, Goodman Brown's wife, is a symbol of Goodman Brown's actual faith and purity at the start of his journey. Brown wants to believe he can live his life the way he wants, but investigate "sin," and then come back to Faith when he is ready. This is signified by the statement, "Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one ...
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.
It is impossible to fairly analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown" around a single literary approach. American novelist, essayist, and poet, Herman Melville, once wrote about Hawthorn's short story that it over time, like wine, it only improves in flavor and body (The Life and Works of Herman Melville). Hawthorne's short story continues to get better with age, and carries today's readers into a world filled with a plethora of meanings for them to pick from its symbolism. Modern readers have interpreted the meaning of Goodman Brown's experience in many ways, but to pigeon hole the story into one view would destroy its veracity.
To truly comprehend the themes in "Young Goodman Brown" you must first understand the influences on Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing. According to the website Hawthorneinsalem.org, Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, son of also a Nathaniel Hawthorne, was actually a descendant of John Hathorne, one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials. Because of Hawthorne's Puritan upbringing, much of writings are moral allegories set in colonial New England. Hawthorne returns again to Salem in "Young Goodman Brown" and deals with the theme of the loss of innocence. This theme works to argue the benefits and consequences of Goodman Brown's beliefs before and after his encounter with the devil as well as the beliefs of the Puritans as a whole.
“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.
Hawthorne skillfully uses Goodman Brown’s wife’s name, Faith, as a symbol of Goodman Brown’s strong faith when Brown’s reassuring response to Faith imply that his faith cannot be weakened: “Amen!’ cried Goodman Brown, “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (Hawthorne 22). Brown leaves Faith; whom he describes as a “blessed angel on earth,” and journeys to the forest (Hawthorne 22). Taking the dark, dreary road into the forest symbolizes his act of jumping into the path leading to despair. The forest represents sin, and the evil grows stronger and stronger as Goodman walks further into the
Hawthorne’s story, “Young Goodman Brown,” appears to be a story about original sin with a lot of symbolism tied in to make it an allegory. An allegory is a story that can be interpreted in different ways to find the hidden meaning behind the symbolism in the story. The three things focused on throughout the short story is Faith, the forest that Goodman Brown takes his journey through, and the staff, which the old man who leads Goodman Brown on his way carries. The short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” uses several symbols such as: Faith, the forest, and the staff to contribute significantly to the allegory.
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.”
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, Young Goodman Brown, Brown goes on a journey through the forest that drastically changes him. While we never know the real reason why Brown went to the forest, the experience in the forest caused him to become a bitter, sad, and lonely man who couldn't look at life the same after that night. There were many events that occurred in the forest that caused this change in him.
In 'Young Goodman Brown,'; Hawthorne makes the reader believe that Goodman Brown has learned that truth about the world and how evil it really is. In the story the accounts of Goodman Brown let you believe that he has truly seen the evil in the world and knows what lurks behind everybody masks. He makes you realize that even though the person may look holy and religious that evilness is all around us and most people will never ever find out the truth. The character Young Goodman Brown written by Nathaniel Hawthorne finds many issues of evil concerning the town's people in which he lives, about himself, and the reality behind the evil.