The Allegory Of Nathanial Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown
analytical Essay
1362 words
Nathanial Hawthorne besieged with his ancestral ties to the Salem Witch Trials and his loathe for a Puritan society, lead him to create an allegory of a young man’s quest and his struggle between good and evil. Hawthorne wrote figuratively about Puritanical ideals, beliefs and social appearance in Young Goodman Brown. Also, the short story is centered on New England’s history, mostly inspired by Puritan beliefs.
Nathanial Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the summer of 1804 to a family with a rich history in New England. After the death of his father in 1808, he spent his adolescent years in Maine on his uncle’s farm and was raised by his mother. At the age of seventeen, Hawthorne’s uncle insisted that he attend college. Hawthorne was not keen on the idea, but eventually gave in and attended Bowdoin College, located in Maine from 1821 to 1824 and was considered an average student. Hawthorne was an avid reader and began writing short stories and novels during his time in college. He published Young Goodman Brown in 1835.
Weighted down by guilt, Nathanial Hawthorne emphasized in the story his bitterness towards his family’s involvement in the Salem Witch Trials by using names of two women persecuted. John Hathorne, his great-great-great grandfather, was an infamous judge, known for his harsh sentencing. He oversaw the sentencing of several women in the Salem Witch Trials from 1692-1693. John Hathorne had a strong connection with Puritanism which inspired the short story Young Goodman Brown. It is suggested that Nathanial Hawthorne’s repulsion to his ancestral background persuaded him to change the spelling of his last name to conceal his connection.
In the allegory, Young Goodman Brown began his journey at twilight in...
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...estraint. It is a lifestyle that has grave societal consequences and personal ones as well.
This allegory is a strong image of man’s relentless battle between good and evil. Mankind’s personal and social quarrels through different dealings can result in good consequences and/or bad consequences. There are many symbols throughout Young Goodman Brown that exemplify Puritan ideology relate to modern times, such as faith, the staff and the forest. Additionally, Nathanial Hawthorne’s ancestral tie to the Salem Witch Trial is a great example of how a man can be tainted by social influences. However, it is up to each person to choose their own path, guided by their perception of faith, no matter their religion. “Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. (pgs. 325-337)”
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathanial hawthorne created an allegory of a young man's quest and his struggle between good and evil in young goodman brown.
- Narrates how nathanial hawthorne was born in salem, massachusetts, and spent his adolescent years in maine on his uncle’s farm. he attended bowdoin college and was considered an average student.
- Analyzes how nathanial hawthorne emphasized his bitterness towards his family's involvement in the salem witch trials by using names of two women persecuted.
- Narrates how young goodman brown began his journey at twilight in salem, massachusetts, calling upon his faith before meeting a man that carried the serpent-shaped staff.
- Analyzes how young goodman brown is surrounded by religious symbolism related to puritan beliefs, ideologies, and the bible.
- Analyzes how young goodman brown's marriage to faith symbolized his commitment to his faith in christianity. he felt bad for leaving his wife behind after such a short time married.
- Explains that puritans believed that one's faith would lead them to heaven, but if faith was lost, so was the person’s soul.
- Analyzes how objects in young goodman brown symbolize ideas from the bible, such as faith's pink ribbon in her hair. puritans believed that faith was a gift from god.
- Analyzes how the staff in young goodman brown embodied a device that kept one tethered to weakness and defied the word of god, ultimately resulting in temptation and curiosity.
- Explains that being tethered to an addiction can change one's life path forever. alcohol, drugs, gambling, and sobriety from these devices become a lifelong battle.
- Analyzes how puritans believed the forest was a place where evil breathed, lived and conspired.
- Explains that the forest would alter a person's way of life forever. gang life is hard to break from and has grave societal and personal consequences.
- Analyzes how young goodman brown exemplifies puritan ideology and how nathanial hawthorne's ancestral tie to the salem witch trial is an example of how a man can be tainted by social influences.
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- Young Goodman Brown is a short story where the main purpose is to show the social issue of religion during the Puritan time. Although the author Nathaniel Hawthorne had not being living in that time, he came from a long line of Puritans. He wrote Young Goodman Brown to show the flaws of the Puritans’ view of religion. They made God seem heartless and mean spirited, someone who just used humans for entertainment. The short story Young Goodman Brown demonstrates that people should test their faith of their religious beliefs and even people considered upright can fall short of their own religious faiths from temptations and imperfections. In addition, the story shows that there is some degree of evil nature in everyone because of the freewill to choose right or wrong.
In this essay, the author
- Describes young goodman brown as a short story about the social issue of religion during the puritan period.
- Analyzes how the story young goodman brown suggests that people should test their faith of their religious beliefs to determine the strength of it.
- Analyzes how the story shows that even the most religious people fall short of their faith because of the human nature of temptations and imperfections.
- Analyzes how the story reveals that there is some degree of evil in everyone because humans are born with the freewill to do right or wrong.
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne did not write young goodman brown to insult the puritans' views on religion.
672 wordsRead More - Nathaniel Hawthorne is a nineteenth-century American writer of the Romantic Movement. Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts, and this is the place he used as the setting for some of his works: such as "The Scarlett Letter", "the Blithedale Romance" and "Young Goodman Brown". In writing, Hawthorne was known for his use of allegory and symbolism, which made his stories a joy for everyone to read. Hawthorne was said to be the first American writer who was conscious of the failure of modern man to realize his full capacity for moral growth. His stories contain much about the life he knew as a child being brought up in a Puritan society. As Hawthorne's writing continued it was filled with the same amount of sin and evil as his first writings. Evil that was revealed through his works. "Young Goodman Brown" was said to be one of the best stories ever written by Hawthorne (Adams70). "The Marble Faun: and "the Scarlett Letter were some of the other stories written by Hawthorne, and they were said to be "Young Goodman Brown" grown older. In this selection there is a question of maturity for Goodman Brown and whether he is good or evil. There is also a transition from childishness to adolescence to maturity. This short story in particular has a feeling of adultery, betrayal, and deception as in some of his other works. It was said by Richard P. Adams that "young Goodman Brown" was a germ for nearly all his best work that followed (Adams 71).
In this essay, the author
- Describes nathaniel hawthorne as a nineteenth-century american writer of the romantic movement.
- Analyzes how hawthorne's works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements, such as young goodman brown and faith.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses the puritan association of trees and animals to create a dramatic poem of the calvinist experience in new england.
- Explains that young goodman brown is stern, sad, darkly meditative, distrustful if not a desperate man. the forest represents evil and destruction.
- Analyzes how the pink ribbon that faith wears is a symbol of sin and purities. the devil figure is evil and frightens the next candidate up for the evil baptism or damnation.
- Analyzes how hawthorne used all the character in this story to prove that good people contain evil aspects.
- Explains sara daugherty's the literary criticism of henry james.
- Cites levy, leo b., mandell, stephen, and hawthorne in "young goodman brown: no. 3".
1487 wordsRead More - When going into a building, whether it is a church, a school, or a workplace, a person can normally see a difference in few people. Christians usually set themselves apart from the rest of the world because they have something others do not, Jesus Christ. Religious figures such as pastors, reverends, or ministers are supposed to set a good example for everyone so that people may look up to them. Nathaniel Hawthorne had a very good example of an unrighteous man in his great-grandfather who served as a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. An event which so impressed Hawthorne, that he changed the spelling of his name to separate himself from the identity of Judge Hathorn. With the impression of the events of the Salem Witch Trials, it is little wonder that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Puritan beliefs and background as sources for his writings. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about many religious figures in each of his books or short stories; however, they are not always righteous. Hawthorne uses The Scarlet Letter, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” and “Young Goodman Brown” to serve as an indictment of Puritan society.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne uses puritan beliefs and background as sources for his writings.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses reverend arthur dimmesdale as the religious leader who commits sin while serving as an adulteress.
- Analyzes how reverend dimmesdale's personal hypocrisy is consonant with the tenets of his faith and moral norms.
- Analyzes how reverend mr. john wilson portrays the correct puritan religious leader in the scarlet letter.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses "young goodman brown" to portray corrupted religious figures in the scarlet letter.
- Analyzes how goodman brown, who claims to be a christian, gets frustrated with the thought of everyone being corrupted by the devil.
- Analyzes how hawthorne portrays goody cloyse, a christian woman, in "young goodman brown." the elderly woman appears to be witches.
- Analyzes how deacon gookin in "young goodman brown" shows signs of being corrupted and following the ways of the devil.
- Analyzes how hawthorne presents a wide range of attitudes in relation to the veil, but what unifies them all is the refusal to accept mr. hooper's acceptance of it.
- Analyzes how reverend clark represents a righteous, godly man in "the minister's black veil" and remains faithful to prayer.
- Analyzes how hawthorne's stories show that religious figures are not exactly who they seem to be. yonggi cho, the founder of yoido full gospel church, embezzled over twelve million dollars from his church.
- Analyzes how hawthorne's writings include reverends, deacons, and even christians.
- Cites applebaum, lee, and barry, elaine. "beyond the veil: a reading of hawthorne's 'the minister'
- Explains that hawthorne's the scarlet letter is a nonliterary source for his "egotism; or the bosom."
- Explains that predmore, richard, "'young goodman brown' night journey into the forest" and "the minister's black veil."
1874 wordsRead More - Transcendental Critic of the Puritansanalytical essayIn “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne’s overt use of spiritual/metaphysical allegory and symbolism is used to display the sinful nature of man and the possibly tragic consequences of the Puritan Church’s ridged and unwavering demand of sinless purity from its m...
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- Explains that there is no hard definition for transcendentalism; it varies depending on which group one talks to. the oxford dictionary implies that divinity can be found in all nature and humanity.
- Analyzes hawthorne's overt use of spiritual/metaphysical allegory and symbolism to display the sinful nature of man and the possibly tragic consequences of the puritan church.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses a subtle approach to demonstrate the effects of the puritan church's strict requirements for purity on the souls of its members.
- Explains puritan orthodoxy's emphasis on a pure (sinless) life and how the church punished those who sinned to protect its members from the corrupting influence of sin.
- Explains soanes and angus stevenson, oxford reference online. oxford university press. amarillo college.
1420 wordsRead More - Symbolism in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayNathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, “Young Goodman Brown,” is rich in symbolism, as this essay will amply illustrate.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's "young goodman brown" is rich in symbolism, as this essay amply illustrates.
- Analyzes how hugo mcpherson in "hawthorne’s use of mythology" explains how 's "inner drama" may be expressed in his symbolism
- Explains that the imaginative foundation of a writer’s work may well be an inner drama or ‘hidden life’ in which his deepest interests and conflicts are transformed into images or characters.
- Quotes edmund fuller and b. jo kinnick in "stories derived from new england living" to state that hawthorne's unique gift was for the creation of strongly symbolic stories which touch the deepest roots of man’s moral nature
- Analyzes how goodman brown is a naive and immature young man who fails to understand the gravity of the step he has taken.
- Analyzes how hawthorne violates the fixed conceptual meaning associated with his character by suggesting that faith's significance is the opposite of what he led the reader to expect.
- Analyzes how hawthorne emphasizes the split between convention and the unconscious by having brown move from the town to the country as he follows his impulses.
- Analyzes how hawthorne suggests wonder-working, therefore power, in the strange antics of the twisted staff of brown's companion.
- Analyzes how the catechism, a cherished puritan keepsake from early childhood, is rich in symbolism.
- Analyzes how the maple stick, which the devil gives to goodman, is symbolic of the protagonist himslef.
- Analyzes how the puritan husband bases his faith on his wife's faith by saying, "with heaven above, and faith below, i will yet stand firm against the devil."
- Analyzes how the pink ribbon is crucial to the apparent conversion of the protagonist to evil, since it must be symbolic.
- Describes how goodman brown was maddened with despair, so that he laughed loud and long. the whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of trees, the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of indians.
- Narrates how the wind laughed at goodman brown when he roared "ha! ha! ha!"
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses laughter to mark his protagonists' epiphanies and emphasize points of thematic conflict.
- Analyzes how hawthorne sprinkles dew on goodman brown's cheek to represent the absence of tears.
- Analyzes how hawthorne experienced the attraction of inverted values, the extreme form of that anticonventional impulse inherent in symbolism.
- Explains coldiron, a.e.b., "laughter as thematic marker in "young goodman brown."
- Analyzes easterly, joan elizabeth, and hawthorne's 'young goodman brown'.
- Describes feidelson, charles, jr.'s "hawthorne as symbolist" in haw-thompson – a collection of critical essays.
- Explains fogle, richard harter, hawthorne's fiction: the light and the dark, norman, u of oklahoma publishing, 1952.
- Explains fuller, edmund, and kinnick in "stories derived from new england living." in readings on nathaniel hawthorne.
- Explains hale, john k., "the serpentine staff in young goodman brown." nathaniel hawthorne review, 1993.
- Explains that leavis, q. d., "hawthorne as poet," in hawne – a collection of critical essays edited by a.n.
- Describes levy, leo b., modern critcial views: nathaniel hawthorne, harold bloom.
- Explains mcpherson, hugo, and clarice swisher's readings on nathaniel hawthorne.
2496 wordsRead More - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorneanalytical essayIn Nathaniel Hawthorne's “Young Goodman Brown”, he recreates a time most recalled of the Puritans: the Salem witch trials. He includes multiple historical names associated with the trial, some of them even of his own ancestry. These historical facts are important to his story because it builds a sense of apprehension, doubt and superstition in the reader, while containing tangible connections to reality. It also allows contemporary readers to examine the issues and see the repercussions of such a belief system and the impact it can and did have.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's "young goodman brown" recreates a time most recalled of the puritans: the salem witch trials.
- Explains how the salem witch trials occurred in 1692 until 1693, when a group of young girls convinced the leaders of the town that they were possessed by the devil and blamed many women
- Recounts how the colony's trial ended with 19 women being hanged by the state on gallows hill, a 71-year-old man being crushed to death with heavy stones, numerous people died in jail and almost 200 people were accused of witchcraft.
- Analyzes how hawthorne experienced the reality of the salem witch trials and battled with the confusion and doubt that it brought on the people.
- Analyzes how hawthorne weaves real events into the fabric of the short story.
- Analyzes how hawthorne emphasizes the reality of the puritanism world in the province of piety: moral history.
- Explains that blumberg, jess, is of "a brief history of the salem witch trials."
999 wordsRead More - The puritan roots that ran in the northeastern part of the country was a way that Hawthorne used to show his underlying messages in many of his works. However, as opposed to the previous works that the country produced, Hawthorne’s used the puritan religion as a means to an end, not as an example or testimony of how to live. A keen example of this is in Hawthorne’s 1835 work, “Young Goodman Brown.” The symbolism is evident as first simply from the title. Hawthorne is attempting to write a story about a young, good man, creating this persona by creating the image of a devout person, first hinting at this through his location, Salem (Hawthorne 87). Salem is the location of the witch trials that Hawthorne’s ancestors were a part of, and from this location Hawthorne is showing that Brown is a puritan, but also that he is a part of a society that can lose sight of their shortcomings. This is something that would not be evident in earlier American writings. Writing about the shortcomings of devout people was not widely recognized as religion to these people was life
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the american experiment has been ongoing since the first settler stepped foot on the newly discovered continent.
- Analyzes how hawthorne used the puritan religion as a means to an end, not as an example or testimony of how to live.
- Explains that the transcendentalist movement reflected a deeper thought process moving through the country where longstanding ideas were questioned and the role of nature was put into more prominence.
- Opines that america is a nation that is constantly evolving, just as it always has. it did this because it had no long and arduous history to gauge new ideas from.
718 wordsRead More - Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayIt seems necessary to write down some lines about the author. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Because of the involvement of his ancestor in the Salem witch trials , Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne" in order to hide this relation. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne published his first work, Fanshawe, in 1828. He published several short stories after that which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. His masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, was published in 1850. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that she's a blessed angel on earth. they will cling to her skirts.
- Analyzes how m.h. abrams distinguishes between the showing approach and the telling approach in a glossary of literary terms.
- Explains that nathaniel hawthorne was born in 1804 in salem, massachusetts. he published his first work, fanshawe, and his masterpiece, the scarlet letter.
- Narrates how young goodman brown leaves his wife, faith, for a duty in the forest. he meets an older man, and other inhabitants of the village.
- Explains that although nathaniel hawthorn's uses a simple style in young goodman brown, he has "detailed" style.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses an imaginative style and poetic imagination to describe the second traveler and his staff.
- Narrates how the wretched man beheld his faith and the wife's husband trembling before the unhallowed altar. evil is the nature of mankind.
- Analyzes how the deepest roots of man's moral nature were touched by the unique gift of hawthorne, the creation of strongly symbolic stories.
1056 wordsRead More - Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayNathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's "young goodman brown" captivates the reader through a glimpse of the puritan church.
- Explains that puritanism was an insult that was attached by traditional anglicans who wished to purify the church of england.
- Explains that the puritan society took great pains to warn members and especially children about the dangers of the world. they were exceptional in their time for their interest in the education of their children.
- Explains puritan congregations were to be individually responsible to god, as was each person. the new testament was their model, and their devotion so great that permeated their entire society.
- Explains that puritans believed that a strong faith in jesus and active participation in the sacraments could not alone hinder one’s salvation.
- Explains that the doctrine of predestination kept all puritans working to do good in this life to be chosen for the next eternal life.
- Explains that puritans believed in election and predestination. they feared god and tried enthusiastically to make themselves worthy.
- Describes the puritan life as one of plainness, strict prayer, and physical and social submission to the duty of the lord. they valued themselves above others because they felt they were representatives of god.
- Explains that the puritan belief that communities were formed by covenants produced america's first town meeting. the halfway covenant was developed to allow unbaptized members to vote and preserve the influence of purian authorities.
- Analyzes how richard saltonstall wrote a letter to his friends, john cotton and john wilson, in which he describes the tyranny and persecution of non-puritans. anne hutchinson's criticism of the massachusetts puritans was widely supported.
- Analyzes how goody cloyse was goodman brown's moral and spiritual advisor in the village of salem. the encounter throws him for a loop.
- Analyzes how faith represented everything a young puritan woman is supposed to be. she asked her husband to put off his journey until morning and sleep in his bed at home.
- Analyzes how goodman brown's moral and spiritual advisors, deacon gookin and the village minister, represent everything that he wanted to be.
- Analyzes goodman brown's struggle between the evil temptations, the devil, and the proper church abiding life.
- Analyzes how goodman brown's first excuse not to carry on with the errand proves unconvincing. the devil agrees with him and tells him to turn back to prevent that "faith should come to any harm."
- Analyzes how goodman brown dreads the deed and is suspicious of every rock and tree. when the traveler asks him why he is late, his wife physically prevented him from being on time, but his faith in god psychologically delayed his meeting.
- Analyzes how hawthorne shows that mistrust and self-doubt inherent in puritan education and doctrine does not create faith and peace.
- Explains that goodman brown could not trust the shadow and figures he saw hidden in the forest, but his own desires had to be purged through his journey.
- Analyzes how goodman brown's faith begins to wain when he hears the voice of a young woman in the forest.
- Analyzes how goodman brown loses all inhibitions and begins to laugh insanely. he is led out of his utopian image of society by the devil's snakelike staff.
- Analyzes how goodman brown goes mad and challenges evil. he believes that he is stronger than everyone else and can destroy it all. the ceremony is setup like a perverted puritan temple.
- Analyzes how hawthorne describes goodman brown's conversion experience as a puritan. puritanism required followers to doubt themselves and their community so much that grace did not exist.
- Cites donna campbell, william, and teresa o’neill, eds. puritanism: opposing viewpoints, published by greenhaven press, inc.
- Explains that hawthorne, nathaniel, elizabeth mcmahan, susan x day, and robert funk.
3249 wordsRead More - Symbols In Young Goodman Brownanalytical essaySalem, Massachusetts in 1835 was home to a community of Puritans, a sect of Calvinists. This was during the American Romanticism period when human nature was to be embraced as a good, natural thing like a sign from God. Nathaniel Hawthorne went against this, saying that humans are not perfect, so their nature should not be embraced. He wrote Young Goodman Brown in 1835. Similar to his other works, this short story has themes of sin, hypocrisy, and flawed humanity. Hawthorne uses archetypical symbols in “Young Goodman Brown” to embody the wickedness and vileness of human nature.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's "young goodman brown" depicts the wickedness and vileness of human nature.
- Analyzes how young goodman's wife, faith, represents his own faith in god. she is introduced when brown is about to leave.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses imagery and details to paint a dark landscape.
- Analyzes how the climax and turning point of the story is marked with an example of deus ex machina or supernatural intervention.
- Analyzes how the second traveler hosts many symbols that portray human nature. the man, the devil, looks just like brown, and represents him at an older age.
- Analyzes how the symbols of faith, the forest, and the old man all mix to shape hawthorne's view of human nature portrayed in the story.
1339 wordsRead More - Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayNathaniel Hawthorne was a brilliant American novelist and short story writer whose stories greatly contributed to the growth of American literature in the nineteenth century. Born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne was a descendent of both William and John Hathorne, both Puritan leaders in Salem in the seventeenth century. John Hathorne, Nathaniel’s great-great-grandfather, was one of the three judges during the Salem Witch Trials; for this reason, Nathaniel added a “w” to his surname to avoid association with him. Hawthorne had many great works, among them are: The Scarlet Letter, Twice-Told Tales, and “Young Goodman Brown.” Hawthorne was influenced by his Puritan ancestry when he wrote some of his works including “Young Goodman Brown.” “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story that is part of Mosses from an Old Manse, one of Hawthorne’s collections of short stories. In the story young Goodman Brown must go on a journey that is believed to be of “evil purpose”; he must leave his wife for the night and travel alone into the woods. When young Goodman Brown meets an old man in the woods that bears resemblance to himself, he goes on his journey with him. During the course of young Goodman Brown’s journey through the “narrow path,” he witnesses events that change his attitude towards his wife and his fellow man from a blissful ignorance, to one with growing doubts, and finally to a desperate gloom that ultimately consumes him.
In this essay, the author
- Describes nathaniel hawthorne as a brilliant american novelist and short story writer whose stories contributed to the growth of american literature in the nineteenth century.
- Analyzes how goodman brown navely believes that his wife, faith, is so pure that he could "cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven."
- Narrates how young goodman brown meets a man who seems to be an older version of himself, and their encounters give him doubts about his wife and fellow villagers.
- Describes how young goodman brown is sent into a hysterical shock after finding his wife's pink ribbons in the forest.
- Analyzes how goodman brown's experience that night changed him from an obliviously optimistic man to a gloomy and depressed one.
1121 wordsRead More - Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayThe story is set in seventeenth-century Salem, a time and place where sin and evil were greatly analyzed and feared. The townspeople, in their Puritan beliefs, were obsessed with the nature of sin and with finding ways to be rid of it altogether through purification of the soul. At times, people were thought to be possessed by the devil and to practice witchcraft. As punishment for these crimes, some were subjected to torturous acts or even horrible deaths. Thus, Hawthorne’s choice of setting is instrumental in the development of theme.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne portrays the nature of evil and the psychological effects it can have on man in young goodman brown.
- Analyzes how hawthorne creates a serious and somber tone throughout much of the story. he uses words such as "melancholy," "evil", "dreary" and "grave"
- Analyzes how hawthorne's choice of setting is instrumental in the development of theme.
- Analyzes how brown uses contrast to portray the village as good and the forest as bad.
- Analyzes how brown's wife, faith, represents his religious faith and his hope for an excellent future.
- Analyzes how hawthorne suggests that everyone experiences the struggle between good and evil within themselves. brown's nave conviction that evil can only flourish in an idealistic environment is devastating.
- Analyzes how salem symbolizes order and the rules that its inhabitants are guided by, while the forest, where brown ventures, is seen as evil and full of sinners.
- Analyzes how brown begins his journey with great faith, believing in the puritan way and its ability to guide him along the righteous path.
- Analyzes how brown's experience in the forest is detrimental to his spiritual development. he can no longer look upon his community with the same hopefulness he once had.
- Analyzes how hawthorne's goal is to show the discovery of evil can lead one to utter desperation and cynicism. brown is the medium through which he achieves this goal.
1846 wordsRead More - Faith in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brownanalytical essayNathaniel Hawthorne’s allegorical story “Young Goodman Brown” is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late sixteen hundreds in a time of religious hysteria and only a few generations after the infamous witch trials. Although "Young Goodman Brown" is a fictional tale, it is based on the cynical environment of Salem during this time period. The short story is filled with many literary elements, leading you to question what did exactly happen to the main character at the conclusion. When analyzing a story like "Young Goodman Brown", one must recognize that the story is at whole symbolic. In the text, symbols are used to uncover the truth of the characters. The role of Faith as both a character and a spiritual element are crucial to both the story and the character of Young Goodman Brown.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how nathaniel hawthorne's allegorical story "young goodman brown" is based on the cynical environment of salem during this time period.
- Analyzes how the names of the characters young goodman brown and his wife faith are both symbolic. "young" infers the title character is naive and new at life.
- Analyzes how hawthorne symbolically uses the color pink four times throughout the story. the pink ribbons in faith's hair suggest that she is innocent and uncorrupt.
- Analyzes how young goodman brown embarks on a journey into the forest without faith, leaving behind his faith in society.
- Analyzes how brown's wife physically prevented him from meeting the devil, but his faith psychologically delayed his meeting.
- Analyzes how goodman brown has lost his faith, represented by the pink ribbons falling from the sky.
- Analyzes how the encounter with the devil sparks a change in young goodman brown, as he finds himself unable to look and speak to his neighbors and faith.
- Analyzes how the central theme of "young goodman brown" is the internal conflict between replacing faith with the worship of the devil or remaining pure.
- Analyzes how faith plays a large role in "young goodman brown" and emphasizes its importance through setting, foreshadowing, and symbolism.
1120 wordsRead More - Hawthorne’s View of Puritanismanalytical essayIn “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne uses the hypocritical nature of Young Goodman Browns neighbors and friends to show the hypocritical nature of the puritan people. In the story, Young Goodman Brown is led by the devil to a witching party in the woods. At the witching party he sees all the people he thought to be honorable and pious. He sees his minister, and Goody Cloyse, the woman who taught him his catechisms, meeting with the devil. He even sees his wife about to join the commune but doesn’t see whether she does or not because he resists the devil and wakes up by a tree. After witnessing these things in the woods Young Goodman Brown can’t look at the people he loved and looked up to in the same way anymore. He becomes a bitter and distrustful old man because of their hypocr...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that nathaniel hawthorne is a well-known 19th century author who criticizes puritanism in his short stories and novels.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses the hypocritical nature of young goodman brown's neighbors and friends to show hypocrisy of the puritan people.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses a black veil in "the minister's black veil" to show that everyone sins even those thought to be more holy than normal.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses the corrupt minister in "young goodman brown" to show the hypocriticalness of the puritan clergy.
- Analyzes how hawthorne criticizes puritanism by making young goodman brown stern, sad, darkly meditative, distrustful, if not desperate.
- Analyzes how hawthorne uses their reaction to show how the puritans reacted to sin.
- Analyzes how both stories show hawthorne's view of puritanism and how he used his characters and ideas to criticize the puritans.
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