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Themes in nathanial hawthorne
Hawthorne 's literary style and themes
Influences on Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing
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Writing about the 17th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne used the knowledge of his ancestors to depict influential stories of the Puritan culture and their ideals. Often noting the hypocrisy of Puritanism, his characters embody the virtues and flaws of the Puritan people. One of his characters, Young Goodman Brown, experiences a substantial disillusionment after he attends the devil’s ceremony in the woods of Salem. At the procession, the devil preaches with a certain superiority, “This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds… where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot” (44). Goodman Brown learns that those whom he had considered as the models of morality are …show more content…
Although Aylmer is neither a Puritan nor is he living in the same time period as Goodman Brown or Reverend Hooper, he shares a similar obsession. However, his obsession deals more with perfection rather than purity, as he is more of a scientific person than a religious one. Rather than faith, the impetus of Aylmer’s obsession is his pride. Frustrated, he says, “No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection" (83). Aylmer takes pride in his scientific work, himself, and the things he has, including his wife. To see an imperfection so distinct disappoints him, and he will attempt whatever is possible to eliminate her flaws. While Aylmer attempts to purify Georgiana’s imperfection, Goodman Brown is obsessed with others’ sins religiously. However, Goodman Brown is not a completely pure person himself, as he voluntarily ventures into the woods in which he knows sinful creatures lie. Before departing, Goodman Brown ponders:
“Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! 'twould kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”
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The protagonist of “The Birthmark,” Aylmer, uses physical action to attempt to achieve perfection. His obsession with imperfection is evoked by Georgiana’s birthmark on her cheek. Although Georgiana only has one major flaw, her birthmark, Aylmer is determined to remove it and fulfill her perfection. Despite her doubts concerning the removal, Aylmer has enough pride and confidence to execute the final elimination of the birthmark. Thus, he concocts a liquid for Georgiana to drink which will cure her birthmark. Aylmer’s scientific perfectionism is not unlike the Puritan obsession of purity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Reverend Hooper dons a piece of black crape over his face in hopes to force the congregants to realize their own sins instead of constantly obsessing over others. Incited by religion, Hooper recognizes the immoral nature of their obsession, and decides to take action through his wearing of the veil. As he lies dying, he exclaims, “Why do you tremble at me alone… Tremble also at each other… loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (35). His whole life, nobody understood the significance of his veil. On his deathbed, he finally discloses the reason. The veil over his face was an attempt by Reverend Hooper
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Young Goodman Brown based on morals and what Easterly in "Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' " calls "spiritual maturity" (Easterly 339). In the short story, Goodman Brown, a young Puritan leaves his wife of three months to watch a witch ceremony in the forest. During this point in time, Puritans based their lives on teachings of religion and morality; therefore, witch-meetings were surely immoral, and they betrayed the commitment of God. Dwelling in the forest throughout the night, Goodman Brown experiences an event that changes his entire perspective of life. In one night, the event destroys "his relationship with his wife Faith, isolates him from his neighbors, and destroys his ability to worship God"(Easterly 339). Eventually, Goodman Brown dies without his faith, and "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom"(Easterly 339).
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown, short story is about a young man who takes a journey into Salem’s Village forest, although he made it farther into the gloomy forest than his past generations did. His wife Faith was begging him to stay home, however against his wife’s wishes he continued, experiencing a twist of betrayal while on his journey to Salem’s dark gloomy forest. Meeting an odd old man who seemed to resemble Goodman Brown, revealing to the secrets of devilish worship that would change his life forever. The author uses characterization, sulky tone, and elevated diction to prove knowledge leads to downfall.
Young Goodman Brown is a story written by a well known Dark Romanticism writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne is known for his unique symbolism and dark writing.Part of Nathaniel Hawthorne's influence in writing Dark Romanticism is Hawthorns embarrassment of his family and the ways of his ancestor.While on one's journey towards faith and religion, they have to face it themselves and understand what they are doing. In Young Goodman Brown there was many symbolisms including Goodman Brown's wife, the snake staff,the forest and Faiths pink ribbon
The rapid loss of faith in visible sanctity demonstrates the total depravity in Goodman Brown’s character that lead him to live an unfulfilled life.
Clarice Swisher in “Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography” states: ”When Hawthorne called his stories ‘romances,’ he meant that they belong within the romantic movement that . . . . emphasize imagination and personal freedom” (18). It is the purpose of this essay to interpret the theme of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and determine where this “personal freedom” leads.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an extraordinary writer who sought to describe the Puritan values he felt was lost. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Young Goodman Brown" is shown as an allegory of the threat essential in forsaking one's Christian conviction, even for one night. As one would assume, the story is infatuated with characters going through the endless trial of sin and guilt. There is a lack of subtlety in this theme, as the main character, Goodman Brown, hopes to accomplish something revolutionary in his travels. Hawthorne uses the theme of sin and guilt, the theme of the psychology of sin, and a nightly quest in order to display the controversies that overwhelmed Goodman Brown.
In Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter, Puritanism played a key role. A man of high stature, Reverend Dimmesdale, was the one to preach the cleansing of one’s own body though god. He was the image of the ideal man to the people of the colony. Dimmesdale spoke of being free of sin, yet he kept his own sin inside, until it destroyed him. His story related to Young Goodman Brown, who was also a religious man. Goodman Brown was planning on attending a satanic ritual, but questioning his faith, he deferred his meeting in the woods. He did continue, and lost his trust in everyone. In The Birthmark, Aylmer was heavily dedicated to science, as if it was his own religion. He devoted himself to removing the birthmark from Georgiana’s face in “her favor.” Yet it was his own greed and thirst for perfection that drove him. This striving for perfection, when he did not care for Georgiana’s thought, ended in her demise. The Birthmark, The Scarlet Letter, and Young Goodman Brown all show the negative effects of such
The irony of his own wife being corrupt is an indicator of the evil that lives inside Goodman brown. Evil lives inside even the most purest hearts just as much as innocence does, it is what you act on that defines your morals. The tale itself focuses on the hypocrisy of puritan society, and what lies beneath the mask of lies. Goodman continues on back to his village but with a different mindset and belief of humanity. Goodman's naive mindset in the beginning of the tale to the pessimist view at the end of the tale, generates Goodman into the isolated bitter old man he becomes is one of the many allegory's this tale
He returned to the town solemn and changed and afraid to look at his wife the same again because of the images the Devil showed during his “nightmare.”For example, “...and bursting into such joy at the sight of him that she skipped along the street and almost kissed her husband before the whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed without a greeting.” (“Young Goodman Brown”) The meaning of this scene is to show that after experiencing a visit with the Devil or sinning, the stability and domestics of Puritan life might not cause the usual assurance and happiness of coming home or returning to Faith and Puritanism. The romance involved has diminished due to Goodman Brown’s sinning, which goes to show that sinning leads to a change in a relationship strength in a Puritan lifestyle. Overall, Romance and relationships are also found in the other Hawthorne’s writings, such as The Birthmark and The Minister’s Black Veil where newlyweds are involved and they endure a relationship changing
“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.
At some point in time everyone is faced with the inevitable loss of innocence. A lot of people have a hard time accepting that, just like the main character of “Young Goodman Brown”. Some people feel they have lost their innocence when they find out that Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy are not real people. Others may feel that they have lost their innocence when they figure out how cruel the world really is. Goodman Brown loses his innocence when he ventures into the forest and takes the devil’s staff. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, the devil’s staff is used to symbolically represent Goodman Brown’s temptations and path toward evil.
At the start of the story Goodman Brown is torn from his wife, Faith, to attend an event that “must needs be done”. The story is an allegory for the sin of man and the hypocrisy of the puritan lifestyle. No matter how much Faith pleads for him to stay, the journey is inevitable much like thresholds in ones life. On this journey Goodman
The short story “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts Goodman’s loss of faith in good due to the evil influences. Goodman’s wife is cleverly named Faith and I think his wife act as an example of symbolism throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, Faith attempts to retain her husband for one more night before he leaves for his journey. Although she is not aware, she seems to know tonight's journey will be a dangerous one. This is clear when she said, “Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year” (Hawthorne). She seems to notice something unusual about tonight. However, Goodman insisted on leaving. I think this is a symbolism where faith is attempting to stop a prayer from turning into
The opening paragraph to Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown is a prime example of how Freud's ideas apply to literature. The first and most obvious of the implications is the wife's name. Because her name is Faith, the first connection that immeadiatly forms is religion. In the beginning of the story the relevance vaguely presents itself, but as you read on the religious connection fits with the rest of the work. Strict Puritanism ruled te way of life through the time that the book emerged. The mention by Hawthorne to the " pink ribbons of her cap" reach far from appropriate for the time. These ribbons suggest that Faith lacks purity and that she presents herself in a frivolous manner. Later in the writing, more references to Freude's sexual bases show themselves. The lone lady that Goodman Brown sees standing in the woods turns out to be his Sunday school teacher. She makes some leude comments about Brown's traveling companion " being her master". However these layers contain more than just sex. In the paragraph that Goodman Brown exclaims: