In 'Young Goodman Brown,'; Hawthorne makes the reader believe that Goodman Brown has learned that truth about the world and how evil it really is. In the story the accounts of Goodman Brown let you believe that he has truly seen the evil in the world and knows what lurks behind everybody masks. He makes you realize that even though the person may look holy and religious that evilness is all around us and most people will never ever find out the truth. The character Young Goodman Brown written by Nathaniel Hawthorne finds many issues of evil concerning the town's people in which he lives, about himself, and the reality behind the evil. In the story 'Young Goodman Brown'; Goodman Brown learns about evil in the towns people and how what he thought was the truth is really not. When Goodman Brown starts his voyage he knew what he was going in the woods to do, what he didn't realize is that the same reason he went to the woods was the same reason as the towns people. When Goodman encounters Goody Cloyse in the woods he is shocked that he sees her out there 'A marvel, truly, that Goody Cloyse should be so far in the wilderness at night fall.';(Hawthorne 98) When he learns of her travels and of how she is acquainted with the old man he is in disbelieve that a women that taught him religion is evil. When Goody asks the old man for a hand to take her to a communion he offers her cane and throws it down when it hits the ground it turns alive and Goody Close disappears. Leading you to believe that she is just an imagination to get Brown to believe in the evil. Goodman Brown also sees other town's members in the woods such as highly respected people such as Deacon Gookin, and even his wife Faith. When Brown learns of Faith participating in this gathering in the woods he is distraught he loses his mind and goes crazy. Goodman brown learns valuable lessons in the woods about his town and the people and about the world. His journey changed the way he looked at things when he awoke from that night his feelings towards the people changed he believed that everybody is evil. Goodman Brown learns many things about himself when he takes that journey into the woods, among many if his faith.
Young Goodman Brown undergoes the hero’s journey in the story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The hero’s journey is a common guideline of events that many writers use in stories to show the physical, mental, and/or emotional transformation the main character or protagonist undergoes throughout the story. It starts with a call to adventure and a supernatural aid. It is then followed by a road of trials and a symbolic death. In the end, the character has a moment of epiphany or realization and then a return. Hawthorne uses all of these in order to show the loss of innocence in Young Goodman Brown as he experiences the hero’s journey.
In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne tells the story of a young man discovering man's true nature in a fantasized visit to hell. He encounters a world where everyone is equally evil, including the most "holy" of people. Hawthorne's hell is a parallel to the influence of the Church on the real world.
In the same way, Hawthorne uses faith symbolically again to represent Goodman Brown own faith in God. As the story begins we see Faith pleading with Goodman brown not to go on the journey but to stay home with her. Hawthorne shows that Goodman has strong faith before he departs for his journey and sometimes in the deep forests, by the way in which he replies to faith as to reassure that his faith will not be weakened by anything he comes across in his journey the author states " 'Amen! ' Cried Goodman Brown 'Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee '" (Hawthorne). So we see that Goodman brown not only knows the consequences he will encounter, but he welcomes it because of the curiosity and will that inflame his heart. He acknowledges his motives and he "felt justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose" (Hawthorne). Even though he knows what he’s about to do is evil and sinful, Goodman
In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism. Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young Goodman Brown is unable to accept the indefinable vision of betrayal and evil that he encounters in the forest. The uncertainty of this vision, enhanced by Hawthorne's deliberate, yet effective, use of ambiguity, is also seen in the character of Faith, the shadows and darkness of the forest, and the undetectable boundaries that separate nightmarish dreams from reality.
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.
As he traveled through the gloomy woods, he knew what he was going to see, but still wanted to witness what happens in the ceremony at the same time he wanted nothing to do with the devil “it is my purpose to return whence I came” Goodman wanting to turn back to the village couldn’t because the old man kept telling him about his father, Goodman wanted to know more. After he finished his conversation he started to return home when he thought he heard Faith’s voice, so he went and grabbed the staff “Goodman Brown grasp his staff and set forth, at such a rate that he seemed to fly along the forest path”, right at that moment his spiritual faith had become corrupted for the worse. Goodman not sure what to believe anymore, he has a moral dilemma between his thinking everyone is a follower of the devil, and seeing the good in
The confusion which the dark woods create for Goodman Brown symbolizes the blindness Goodman Brown has to the Puritan town’s corruption and evil. The beginning of his journey the readers acknowledge that Goodman Brown, “had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest of trees of the forest” (Hawthorne 261). The willingness which Goodman Brown has to take a dark and gloomy road symbolizes the willingness for Goodman Brown to stay blind to all that is going on throughout the town. The woods themselves being darkened and gloomy suggests the secrets that are hidden and if found could lead to great sadness. Since Goodman Brown is blind to the evil rituals that occur in the woods and his willingness to go into the woods, his actions suggest that Goodman Brown is living in a false sense of security. While walking through this dark and gloomy road, Goodman Brown and the traveler come across Goody Cloyse. During this instance the traveler’s walking stick becomes full of life and Goody Cloyse disappears soon after (Hawthorne 264). This situation with the walking stick in the woods shows the reader that the woods hold the truth and Goodman Brown’s obscurity of the truth. Continuing on his journey, Goodman Brown finally comes to the clearing. In that moment Goodman Brown, “Stepped forth from the shadow of the trees” (Hawthorne 269). As Goodman Brown does this he is awakened to the complete truth of the town. He sees the congregation, the supposedly holy people, his wife who was pure and innocent, and the ritual. Goodman Brown has emerged from his comforting darkness and out into the clarity that would separate the truth and the façade that the townspeople had made for the town. The moment in which he steps out, however, is when the Deacon asks for the new converts to come out (Hawthorne 269). This signifies a natural attraction to the area
Young Goodman Brown is a holy man, with a repressed wish inside of him to explore the unknown. This wish came to him through a dream and changed the rest of his life dramatically. The story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us the possible outcomes of Young Goodman Brown's decision to explore into the forest to find the unknown. Hawthorne also uses symbols in the story to represent good and evil. It is a story about a man whose true identity prevailed and destroys him from the inside out.
Young Goodman Brown was a sweet, innocent individual who lived his life carefree. He believed everyone was good and with thoughts of his loving wife, Faith, he avoided all evil. In Goodman’s eyes, Faith was the “purest soul.” Without realizing the bad intentions Goodman’s journey holds, he leaves home unable to tell Faith why. Goodman uses the excuse that he would “cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven" (Hawthorne) one he came home from his journey. While traveling through a dark forest, Goodman observed what was going on around him and could feel the fear within him. “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!” (Hawthorne) On his journey, Goodman meets a middle aged man, walking through a narrow path. After a greeting, they decided to continue the journey through the forest. The middle aged man wore plain attire and carried a staff shaped similar to a realistic serpent, which moved. The middle aged man begins to talk about Goodman’s anc...
deeper meanings than what the reader can see on the surface. The allegorical meaning is the writer’s real purpose in writing the narrative so that a lesson can be found when reading below the surface. “Young Goodman Brown”, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a perfect example of an allegorical story and is filled with many symbolic elements.
and Goodman Brown sets forth on his journey. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the devil. This makes him feel guilty and he tries to justify the reason for his journey and lessen his guilt by saying, “ ‘After this one night I‘ll cling to her skirts and
Goodman Brown does not emerge from the forest tougher or braver but hateful and spiteful because he becomes enlightened to the ways of world. He comes to terms with the reality tha...
Goodman Brown embarks on his journey into the forest with the fervent belief that his potent dedication is indomitably ironclad, and thus will be able to overcome even the most tempting persuasions of the devil. As Goodman and the devil continue sauntering along the serpentine path, they encounter Goodman’s old catechism teacher, Goody Cloyse, and it is eventually revealed that she is heading to the satanic occult meeting at the core of the forest. Goodman is absolutely confounded at the sight of her, as he had always considered Cloyse as a moral and spiritual guide in his life. Goody Cloyse’s appearance is the first moment where Goodman begins to question his faith. Brown's illusions about the purity of his society are finally obliterated when he discovers that many of his fellow townspeople, including religious leaders and his wife (aptly named Faith), are attending a Black Mass or “witch-meeting”. At the end of the story, it is not clear whether Brown's experience was a nightmare or biting reality, but the results are nonetheless the same. Brown is unable to forgive the possibility of evil in his loved ones, and as a result spends the rest of his life in desperate loneliness and gloom.
...to the woods transforms him from an overly trusting, naïve man into a cynical, and corrupted man. Before his life changing journey, goodman Brown is unknowing of all the sin that goes on around him. He believes that everyone he knows is perfect and without sin. This changes when he takes a trip through the forest. His eyes are opened in a sense, but maybe too wide. Goodman Brown becomes paranoid about everyone in the village including his wife, Faith. He also becomes corrupted and unable to focus on his religious activities that he has always done before. Fundamentally, faith is something that Brown gave away freely to anyone but, rather, should be given moderately.
In the story Young Goodman Brown, it suggests that people should test their faith of their religious beliefs to determine the strength of it. Goodman Brown took this journey into the woods to test how strong his faith in Christ was. Before Goodman Brown left for his journey in the woods, he promised his wife Faith that he would return to her, his wife symbolizes Goodman Brown’s faith in Christ. The multiple obstacles that Goodman Brown faced in the woods like when saw all the people he considered to be upright and holy in the meeting with the devil, caused him not to trust anyone not even his own wife Faith when he returns from his journey. If a person has a strong faith in their religion, nothing should be able to cause them to lose it. Unfortunately, Goodman Brown did not have a strong faith in Christ and ended up turning his back on the church. Goodman Brown seems to be a good honest person who was raised in the Christian church and was taught about Christ but he ne...