Pride in Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil

Pride in Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil

Many of Hawthorne's characters wrap themselves in a pride of intellect.

The characters become victims of their pride and consequently suffer. Goodman

Brown, from "Young Goodman Brown" and Hooper, from "The Minister's Black Veil"

are two characters that suffer from a pride of intellect. Their pride causes

them similar problems and they end up living similar lives, although they came

from different backgrounds.

Hooper and Goodman Brown both become isolated from society. Hooper had a

revelation, and he feels that he truly understands human nature and sin.

However, he believes that he is above everybody else because he has this

understanding. This is what causes the major separation between Hooper and

society. After Hooper dawns the veil he can no longer function or act as a

normal person, because of this feeling of superiority. His perception of an

ultimate human isolation leaves him the man most isolated in what Hawthorne

describes as that saddest of all prisons, his own heart . . . "(The Minister's

Black Veil,228). The veil affects all parts of his life, his fiance leaves him

and he can no longer relate to his congregation the same way. "As a result of

wearing the veil, Hooper becomes a man apart, isolated from love and sympathy,

suspected and even feared by his congregation"(Minister's Black Veil, 228).

Goodman Brown suffers the same fate because he also has a feeling of superiority

over the rest of the village. He attains this feeling after he sees all the

people that he though were good and pure participating in satanic rituals in the

fore...

... middle of paper ...

...de.

Works Cited and Consulted

Benoit, Raymond. "'Young Goodman Brown': The Second Time Around." The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 19 (Spring 1993): 18-21.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959.

James, Henry. Hawthorne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.

Kaul, A. N., Ed.. "HAWTHORNE: A Collection of Critical Essays." Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1966.

Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965.

Morris, Lloyd., "THE REBELLIOUS PURITAN: Portrait of Mr. Hawthorne." Port Washington: Kennikat Press.

Van Doren, Mark., Ed. "The Best of Hawthorne." New York: The Ronald Press Company. 1951.

Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.