Nathaniel Hawthorne often employed symbols in his stories.
The literary term symbol is like an allusion placed in an image, action, thing or person ("images and symbols"). Symbols may be hard for readers to discover. It can be seen with the eye or not visible. One source described it as "a word or object that stands for another word or object" ("Symbol"). A Handbook to Literature states that "a symbol is something that is itself and also stands for something else" (509).
Nathaniel Hawthorne is well known for using symbols of nature in many of his stories. In My Kinsman, Major Molineux, lead character, young Robin, comes to town with the expectation of a distant relative handing him a silver spoon. In this story Hawthorne uses the light and dark to represent good and evil. When Robin first arrives in town "It was near nine o'clock of a moonlight evening" (584). In this description early on we see the contrast of light and dark combined. It is nine o'clock and it is evening, however the light of the moon was shining. This shows the uncertainty of Robin's journey early on; he is doubtful, hesitant and shady. Robin ends up walking for a very long time in the dark. He is given several opportunities to rethink his intentions. The people he comes in contact with all have some symbolism of good versus evil, including the half naked housekeeper, representing temptation, and the gentleman that led him to the church who is described as having "One side of his face blazed of an intense red, while the other was black as midnight" (591). Hawthorne is giving Robin a chance to think about his purpose in life and choose a different path. Robin ends up at a church which is a pivotal turning point in the story. The church is ...
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"Images and Symbols." Literary Analysis Tips In a Glossary of Analytical Terms. 12 March 2006. http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/literary_analysis_tips_in_a_glos.htm
Harmon, William and Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2006.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Ambiguities of Nature. 7 December 2004. www.staff.uni-mainz.de/lindem/americanstudies/lectures/transparencies/2004ws_lect_nature/2004_12_07.
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "My Kinsman, Major Molineux." Baym, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Shorter, 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2003. 584-597
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Baym, Nina, et al. 610-619.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Maypole of Merry Mount." Baym, Nina et al. 619-626.
All forms of literature consist of patterns that can be discovered through critical and analytical reading, observing and comparing. Many patterns are discussed in the novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster. Among these patterns, he discusses the use of symbolism and the representation something can have for a different, underlying aspect of a piece of literature. These symbols tend to have multiple meanings and endless interpretations depending on who is reading and analyzing them. No matter
Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
In any novel worth reading there is use of basic rhetorical devices like symbolism, allusions, etc. Nathaniel Hawthorne viewed strongly abroad as excellent author for many reasons but none as prevalent as his use of symbolism. Hawthorne uses repetition, motifs and symbolism to poetically approximate allusions almost within every word of his book “The Scarlet Letter”. Symbolism is the adhesive in “The Scarlet Letter”, other than maintaining the reader’s interest, it also makes allusions to other famous works such as the bible, and he uses it to transition the exposition throughout the book. A white man standing next to an Indian was wearing “… clad in a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume” (45) symbolizing the linimal position of the character in the story and in life. Although this symbol has one clear layer it also has a bi-layer to represent a different meaning. The matter that Hawthorne forms epic amounts of symbol s would have formed a problem if he hadn’t made it easy to depict the differences between his concrete symbols and his abstract symbols through repetit...
Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2006. A7
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
A symbol in literature is an object that stands for a word, cause, belief, or another object. A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word of phrase is applied to something but it should not be taken literally. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes innocence. The mockingbird is innocent, singing for people to hear its music. In the book Atticus says to Scout, “Remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” When Scout asked Miss Maudie about it, Miss Maudie tells her, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… but they sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Killing something so innocent would be a sin because it had never done anything to hurt you.
"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story that was first published in the 1836 edition of the Token and Atlantic Souvenir and reappeared over time in Twice-Told Tales, a collection of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The short story narrates the events following Reverend Mr. Hooper's decision to begin wearing a black veil that obscures his full face, except for his mouth and chin. Mr. Hooper simply arrives one day at the meeting house wearing the semi-transparent black veil and refuses from then on to take it of, leading to the loss of his fiancée and isolation form the world. He is even buried in the black veil. Yet, what is important to note are Mr. Hooper's last words to those surrounding his deathbed. He tells them namely in anger that all of them wear black veils: “I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!”. This declaration underlines the meanings of the veil in the story as symbolic of sin, darkness, and the duality within human nature. Thus, "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a literary work of art that demonstrates the author's use of allegory to highlight the psychological angle of the story and characters.
It is no secret that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is a parable. Hawthorne intended it as such and even gave the story the subtitle “a parable.” “The Minister’s Black Veil,” however, was not Hawthorne’s only parable. Hawthorne often used symbols and figurative language to give added meaning to the literal interpretations of his work. His Puritan ancestry also influenced much of Hawthorne’s work. Instead of agreeing with Puritanism however, Hawthorne would criticize it through the symbols and themes in his stories and parables. Several of these symbols and themes reoccur in Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “Young Goodman Brown”, and The Scarlet Letter.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
In the story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is symbolism all throughout the story. Symbolism can be defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Hawthorne uses symbolism to describe a young man who reluctantly leaves his world of innocence and realizes that evil and darkness is in his world.
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 329-37. Print.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolic imagery throughout his story Young Goodman Brown to impact the theme of good people sometimes do bad things. Hawthorne takes us on a journey of truth and realization. Goodman Brown was not open to the truth or the reality that the world is filled with evil and people are imperfect. His perception of the world was it was a fun loving happy place and when he was exposed to reality he turned away from people and lost faith in them. His faith should have been in God because God will never let you down but his faith was in people and people are imperfect and subject to disappoint you.
Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1994.
A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. (2009 Open-Ended Question for AP English Literature and Composition).