Young Goodman Brown - 1144 Words

In this extract from â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism, imagery and point of view to depict Goodman Brown’s eventual journey from naivety in man’s purity of faith to recognition of man’s disposition to evil. It reveals Brown’s misplaced faith in man, who is deficient, instead of God. In the dialogue that ensues between the minister and Deacon Gookin, we learn of an impending meeting expecting participants hailing from â€Å"Falmouth and beyond... Indian powows† (Hawthorne 26). The geographical listing hints at the far-reaching influence of the devil. By including the Indians, Hawthorne subtly contrasts the inclusiveness of this heathen community versus the exclusivity of the Puritan community. This perhaps also†¦show more content†¦The imagery of â€Å"stars brightening† above when doubts and confusion begins to overcome Brown symbolises hope (Khoo 16) in the midst of doom and gloom. This hope lea ds Brown to make a penultimate declaration of resistance, clinging on to Faith, his wife, who represents a tangible symbol of his faith as his strength of this resolve. Once again, we see his misplaced faith in a being instead of the Divine. This perhaps is a foretelling of the imminent lose of Brown’s faith since Faith, being human is deficient. This symbolic spark of hope is overshadowed almost immediately by a â€Å"black mass of cloud† (26). The alliteration in â€Å"hurried across.....hid the brightening star† and â€Å"sweeping swiftly† both emphasise the quick movements of the cloud to cast a shadow over the clear sky. Apart from signifying the omnipresence of evil and its great influence over mankind, it also foreshadows another episode of looming devastation to Brown’s weakened faith. Later on in the extract, Brown hears again, sound of voices of familiar townsfolk blending in with the â€Å"murmur of the forest† as if attesting to the embodiment of both the devil and his followers. Hawthorne skilfully weaves in the aural imagery of a cacophony of sounds juxtaposed against a single utterance of a young woman to create a sense of the internal spiritual chaos welling up withinShow MoreRelated Young Goodman Brown Essay1048 Words   |  5 Pages The main theme of the Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, â€Å" Young Goodman Brown,† is the struggle between Goodman Brown’s faith, power to resist his own evil impulses and his own doubts within him. It is a story of Young Goodman Brown’s personal conflict over his inner desires and its greater meaning conflict between good and evil in the world. The characteristics of Young Goodman Brown are similar to the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne had his own doubts about his own Puritan life and beliefsRead MoreEssay on Young Goodman Brown769 Words   |  4 Pagesmain focus of the story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the triumph of evil over good. A supposedly good man is tempted by evil and allows himself to be converted into a man of evil. This is much like the situation that arises in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, where two people are tempted to sin and give in thus submitting themselves to the power of the devil. In this novel, the area where the devil resides is strictly parallel to that in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;AsRead Moreyoung goodman brown Essay1058 Words   |  5 Pagesthe benefit of the afflicted†(5-6) and Young Goodman Brown, a fictional character created by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written because a few male puritans wanted to publish a story to open up societies eyes and live in a more patriarchal society. Regardless of being a fictional character or a nonfiction, we get presented evidence in which both individuals experience problems that at the time the puritan society could relate too. While both Young Goodman Brown and Mary Rowlandson enter the forestRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown and the Lottery640 Words   |  3 PagesYoung Goodman Brown and the Lottery Symbolism Use In: Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery The authors, Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, both frequently use symbols within their stories The Lottery and Young Goodman Brown. Symbols are utilized as an enhancement tool to stress the theme of each story. Hawthorne uses names and objects to enhance the theme, and Jackson mainly utilizes names to stress the theme, although she does have one object as a symbol of great importance to the themeRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown Analysis876 Words   |  4 PagesHawthorne’s story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† appears to be a story about original sin with a lot of symbolism tied in to make it an allegory. An allegory is a story that can be interpreted in different ways to find the hidden meaning behind the symbolism in the story. The three thing s focused on throughout the short story is Faith, the forest that Goodman Brown takes his journey through, and the staff, which the old man who leads Goodman Brown on his way carries. The short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† uses severalRead MoreSummary Of Young Goodman Brown 1278 Words   |  6 PagesCharles F. Harris Kevin R. Martin ENG 102 T April 16, 2015 Young Goodman Brown Most people think that the majority of people walking the face of the earth are morally good with a few bad apples here and there. In the short story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses setting, characters, and plot to show how everyone can be drawn out of their usual character when they are governed by their evil desires. In this story, Hawthorne uses setting to show how people that commit evil will try andRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown Essay931 Words   |  4 PagesYoung Goodman Brown: Good versus Evil Throughout Young Goodman Brown and other works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the themes of sin and guilt constantly reoccur. Like many authors, Hawthorne used events in his life as a basis for the stories that he wrote. Hawthorne felt that ones guilt does not die with him/her but is rather passed down through the generations. Hawthornes great-great uncle was one of the judges during the Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne felt a great sense of guilt because ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Young Goodman Brown 1285 Words   |  6 PagesPerceiÃŽ ½ed through the archetypal lens, the short story, Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne asserts the uniÃŽ ½ersal idea that eÃŽ ½il lurks within eÃŽ ½ery man. Taken as a whole, the work conÃŽ ½eys that humanity can easily fall ÃŽ ½ictim to innate selfish instincts as well as society’s damaging influences. The main character, Young Goodman Brown, treks on a journey that challenges him to uphold his innocence and his belief in a decent mankind as h e discoÃŽ ½ers corruption in people. The allegory—a storyRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown Essay1291 Words   |  6 PagesYoung Goodman Brown Goodman Browns actions in the story, Young Goodman Brown, are a key element to this storys theme. The author uses Goodman Browns movement in and out of the forest, as a method of symbolizing the theme of a symbolic journey into the depths of consciousness. As the hours of the night pass, Goodman Brown travels farther into the forest, and deeper into the depths of consciousness. This theme is present in many passages of the text. The story begins with the line, YoungRead More Young Goodman Brown Essay441 Words   |  2 Pages Young Goodman Brownquot; tells the tale of a young Puritan man drawn into a covenant with the Devil. Browns illusions about the goodness of his society are crushed when he discovers that many of his fellow townspeople, including religious leaders and his wife, are attending a Black Mass. At the end of the story, it is not clear whether Browns experience was nightmare or reality, but the results are nonetheless the same. Brown is unable to forgive the possibility of evil in his loved ones and