Short stories are one way for a writer to connect with an audience. By using the theme of a story the writer is able to, in a way, speak with their audience. The story of “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a well written story that pulls readers in by using an important theme, darkness. An analysis of “Young Goodman Brown” revealed how darkness infects Goodman Brown throughout the story; Goodman Brown’s relationship with the traveler, and Goodman Brown’s mind reveal insight to his infestation.
The short story reveals a corrupt nature in the traveler which strongly resembles young Goodman Brown. Looking closer into how the traveler resembles Goodman Brown the story reveals a few key components. The traveler is in same stage of
There were several areas within the story when the main character’s infected mind affects his personality. The beginning of the story Goodman Brown is leaving his home, which is full of light and love to embark on a journey of darkness. As the writer paints a picture of goodness, “She’s a blessed angel on earth and after this one night I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven,” he soon sets the stage for darkness to invade (292). The author wrote, “With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose,” yet this leads the reader to question why having a wonderful life would lead to throwing it away (292). The darkness in Goodman Brown mind grows as the story continues. The end of the story all of Goodman Brown’s dream experiences from the night before left him with his hidden, dark personality that was revealed previously only in his dream. The story identifies that all that had happened was only a dream, for he had fallen asleep in the forest. However, even after realizing the darkness was only a dream Goodman Brown was still infested with darkness and it had taken a permanent root in his life. The dark infestation in the mind of Goodman Brown caused him to loose what was pure in his life. Goodman Brown leaves his home, which ultimately creates a separation between his wife and him that had previously been strong. Goodman Brown recognizes that his wife is very worried about him leaving, yet he reassures her and continues with his, already anticipated, evil path. In the forest he thought that he lost his wife because of screams he heard I the forest. This was then followed by her pink ribbons that came floating down from the sky. The darkness that had already rooted itself inside Goodman Brown led him even further astray: instead of turning back to check on his wife he pushed more fiercely
Hawthorne and Poe showcase a theme of darkness but differ in their approach to the setting. In Young Goodman Brown, the story primarily
In reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, many issues come up that arouse interest in topics of knowledge, evil, reality, amongst other things. During my experience reading this text, how Goodman Brown's outlook changed based on information revealed to him that may not even be the "reality" of the people he knows was fascinating. That knowledge gained outside traditional and physical realms can affect the mind and the perception of the world is a fascinating subject. I also found this interesting in conjunction with some of the concepts of literary critics we reviewed this week, as the question of what literature is and what it should do becomes important in the discussion of what happens to Goodman Brown, but subsequently what happens to the reader of his story.
In many cases, sin becomes guilt in a matter of seconds, though the repercussions of that sin may never end. In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the devil haunts one man with his startling words, and those words leave the young man unable to be himself for the rest of his life. Goodman Brown portrays as the average Puritan with an unknown want to speak with the devil. It is because of the simple walk he takes into the woods with a new companion that enlightens him of the problems in his community. The problem being that he is not the only one to travel with the companion, and that means that nothing is just as he thought. Goodman Brown proves that it is through his own sin and guilt that he is able to see the sin within his community, past and present.
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.
In 1835, Nathaniel Hawthorne published the tale of “Young Goodman Brown,” a tale that illustrates many configurations of symbolism used to leave the reader planting the pieces together through his characteristics of detail and imagery. Hawthorne’s prime analogy expressed throughout this tale is the loss of vulnerability and pureness when reaching maturity.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown illustrates vividly how society and culture can very much influence a person’s sense of identity and belonging, or in the case of Young Goodman Brown the lack thereof. Being a Puritan man in a society that scorned the ways of witches and the devil, Young Goodman Brown grew up with a very pious outlook on life. Yet when it occurs to him to look at life a little bit differently, Young Goodman Brown receives more than he has bargained for. The journey he embarks on sheds a whole new light on his society that not only creates a struggle between himself and his fellow men but also one within himself.
Nathaniel 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.
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, “Young Goodman Brown,” is rich in symbolism, as this essay will amply illustrate.
The use of dark imagery throughout the story gives you a sense of fear of the unknown that lies ahead of Goodman Brown on his journey. The beginning sentence of the story illustrates an image of a sunset and the approaching of night as Goodman Brown sets off on his mission. ?Young Goodman Brown came forth, at sunset, into the street of Salem village, but put his head back, after crossing the threshold.? (196) Here, the light of the sun represents the knowledge that Goodman Brown already has. The imagery of darkness setting in is the unknown knowledge Goodman Brown is out to discover. Goodman Brown must first travel through the darkness of the unknown before he reaches the light of enlightenment and truth that is why he is embarking on his journey throughout the night hours. ?My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done ?twist now and sunrise.? (197)
It is surprising, in a way, to discover how few of the many critics who have discussed "Young Goodman Brown'' agree on any aspect of the work except that it is an excellent short story. D. M. McKeithan says that its theme is "sin and its blighting effects." Richard H. Fogle observes, "Hawthorne the artist refuses to limit himself to a single and doctrinaire conclusion, proceeding instead by indirection,'' implying, presumably, that it is inartistic to say something which can be clearly understood by the readers. Gordon and Tate assert, "Hawthorne is dealing with his favorite theme: the unhappiness which the human heart suffers as a result of its innate depravity." Austin Warren says, ''His point is the devastating effect of moral scepticism." Almost all critics agree, however, that Young Goodman Brown lost his faith. Their conclusions are based, perhaps, upon the statement, "My Faith is gone!" made by Brown when he recognizes his wife's voice and ribbon. I should like to examine the story once more to show that Young Goodman Brown did not lose his faith at all. In fact, not only did he retain his faith, but during his horrible experience he actually discovered the full and frightening significance of his faith.
First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story titled “Young Goodman Brown”. “Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society” (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne’s own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers that he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him. So, in search for the answer to his questions about life, he turns to the devil and takes his...
Goodman Brown, a young man who was only married for three months, left his home and his wife, Faith, to go into the forest and spend the night on some mission that he will not explain. Even though Faith has strong feelings about his journey and begs him not to leave, Brown has made his decision and leaves everything behind. Faith is appropriately named, because she represents Browns faith and what he believes in. The name is genuine, religious and hopeful. It represents the good side of Brown and his hope for life. He feels bad for leaving her because he knows what he is about to do is evil and goes against his faith. Brown swears that after this night he will be good and not do anything evil again and vow his life to Faith. Brown is upset about leaving her because he knows that what he is about to do in the forest is evil and goes against his Faith. Hawthorne describes Browns journey as "crossing the threshold", meaning that he is going from one part of his life to another, he is leaving the genuine good side to go to the bad evil side.
Late one night he finds himself in the middle of the woods with the Devil, on his way to a meeting of the Devil's followers. After seeing respected townsfolk at the Devil's meeting, including his minister and his wife, Faith, he loses hope in humanity and all that he had known to be true or real. Goodman Brown wakes up in his bed immediately following the Devil's meeting and wonders if what had happened was reality or simply just a dream. Despite his confusion about the events that took place, he was unable to forget what had happened and lost faith in religion and his com... ...
One of the questions that one might ask is whether the experience of Goodman Brown was merely a dream or a reality. I would say that that is only a dream, based on the clues found in the text. At the first part, the scene when the couple parted, Goodman Brown said, “…she talks of dreams, too…” This means that he has been experiencing dreams that bother him. And the narrative is but one of those. It tells us how powerful dreams are, or more specifically, how powerful our unconscious and subconscious minds are. The unconscious mind is where bad memories are repressed, while the conscious mind is where good experiences and memories are expressed. The subconscious mind links the two. His subconscious mind had been so powerful that it even overcame the conscious mind, and it intruded on Goodman Brown’s conscious mind and therefore affecting his own living and his persona (one’s public self).