The Importance of Dreaming in Young Goodman Brown
Minuscule, barely-recognizable waves emanate from the center of the pastor’s glass of water with every increasingly solid thud of fists upon wooden podium. Blood rushes to his head with every beat of his heart to fuel the rampid, raging fire within his mind. Louder and louder the minister’s voice rose ‘till it seemed as though the heavens themselves could make out a faint whisper of the good news. The good news being told that glad morning told of a man who insisted upon harboring guilt, shame, and fear inside his heart. It told of a man whose heart resembled that of a man sitting two rows back of the alter in that very sanctuary. The story, having done its job, had already penetrated that lonely, dreadful heart long before, when the pastor still held fast to his wits. The poor man simply sat, hunched over, his Bible resting upon his leg, starring at the glass of water on the podium as if losing count of the ripples might cost him his salvation. All around him sat the aristocracy of the town; the rich, the confident, the beautiful, the holy, the righteous, and the rest of the Christian faith. Deeply in listful dream, the young man contemplated the words of the minister and their pertinence to himself. Over and over, these words pierced and jabbed at his heart, urging him to repent of his sinful desires he’d encountered just days before. Suddenly, seemingly without warning, all his fellow churchmates rose to their feet and began to sing. It was the last hymn of the morning! Awakened from his transient slumber, he too stood to his feet to praise his God.
Doubtlessly, all across the country men and women sit amongst fellow followers in the same state of mind, questio...
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...any women and men find themselves contemplating their own repentance and salvation in capricious slumber. Certainly, Young Goodman Brown is no exception!
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William Wallace is considered a legend in Scotland. For years, England and Scotland were at war, and behind many of the battles for Scotland’s independence was William Wallace. While the information about him, like any good hero, might be over exaggerated by some historians, what’s true is that he gave the country hope that Scotland could be free from English Tyranny. For years after he died, others took his place in saving Scotland from English rule.
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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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” manifests a duality of conflict – both an external conflict and an internal conflict. It is the purpose of this essay to explore both types of conflict as manifested in the story.
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.
McKeithan, D. M. Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown": An Interpretation 67.2 (1952): 93-96. JSTOR. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
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.
the two countries. But he saw the British Empire as a worldwide alliance of free
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