Preview

Good vs. Evil Young Goodman Brown

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
587 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Good vs. Evil Young Goodman Brown
Good vs. Evil in Young Goodman Brown Symbolism is shown through many ways in different stories. It is mainly shown through the main theme as well as the smaller themes that are throughout the story. Symbolism is shown through many different parts of this story as well as through each character in unique ways. In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathanial Hawthorn, a story is told about a man named Goodman Brown, who is put through the difficulty of dealing with a similar struggle one night. The characters in, “Young Goodman Brown,” take part in a very important meaning behind the stories symbolism. The protagonist of the story, Goodman Brown, his name has a very obvious meaning. When taken apart, it is split into two pieces of “good man,” and brings the thoughts of this character being a very responsible character throughout this story. Goodman’s wife, Faith, has another symbolic name, relating to religious beliefs, not only for herself, but for Goodman as well. A part in the story, Goodman stated, “Faith kept me back a while” (Hawthorne). This could be taken as his wife held him back, or the religious belief part held him back. Symbolism being shown through these two characters names shows more than just two characters as themselves, it shows how the story can be looked at in more depth and understood behind a different meaning. This story takes place in a dark forest in Salem, Massachusetts. Forests are used to symbolize evil and danger, or even the darkness of the forest may symbolize danger. When Goodman is walking through the forest he soon says to himself, “There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree…What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!” (Hawthorne). Taking the walk deeper into the forest, Goodman soon experiences more things that relate with evil and danger, and the further he goes into the forest, the darker the atmosphere gets. This can add that the deeper the goes into the forest, the closer he gets to the Devil and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    During his experience in the forest, Goodman Brown begins to understand fully that his community is full of hypocrisy, which leads him to being distrustful to those around him. This is because his search for spiritual enlightenment leads him to lose his faith in God. What’s more, his nighttime journey forces him to question the devil’s existence in the darkness that he finds himself. In addition, he begins to understand that people use religion to hide their evil deeds. Such is the case he associates with his father and grandfather violent atrocities disguised as their moral obligations (388). In fact the scene leaves the reader with questions about the reality Goodman Brown faces as he witnesses a witch, the devil worshippers around the alter and a spooky dark cloud. However, the occurrence the devil shows him becomes the important message and the source of Goodman’s misgivings (Bloom, 42).…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the passage he uses symbolism in many ways. He demonstrates how Young Goodman’s faith is being tested. When Hawthorne says "Come, Goodman Brown, cried his fellow-traveler,” this is a dull pace for the beginning of a journey. “Take my staff, if you are so soon weary.” According to Sophie Starmack, his wife has a symbolic name. “My faith is gone!” with this being said Hawthorne works on two levels, the literal loss of his wife and the symbolic loss of his spiritual belief. He seems to be more worried about how he might lose his Faith. Hawthorne suggests that if one bases their morals with religion and society, one might just get confused and lose their morals and become weakened. Yet, Goodman Brown tries to stay strong and committed to his Faith. Hawthorne states, “Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?” In Jimmy Maher’s words "The Young Goodman Brown" is presented as an allegory of the danger inherent in abandoning one's Christian faith.…

    • 560 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the literary archetype of a good versus evil opposition to contribute to Goodman Brown’s fate. In the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown must choose to “put off [his] journey until sunrise, and sleep in [his] own bed” (133), or abandon his wife for the night to pursue an evil errand. Even after his wife pleads him to stay, Goodman makes the decision to leave his home to journey to an evil place. Considering how quickly Hawthorne allows Goodman to face a conflict of good versus evil in the story, readers begin assuming that Goodman’s condition will directly connect to the choices he makes in these situations. Readers find proof of this connection when Goodman…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The quote “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and close immediately behind them” (Hawthorn 2) gives us an example of personification. The idea of trees closing could be seen as Goodman Brown’s fears manifesting in the form of hallucination, or him seeing the surroundings in a perspective point of view, which he himself could not explain. As Goodman Brown goes deeper into the forest is said how he felt as though an Indian or even the devil himself was lurking behind each tree. This type of reasoning was due to the kind of knowledge the puritan community imposed on Goodman Brown which led him into believing evil had a physical form, and it was this evil that was lurking in the…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne: A name well known to historians and students alike. Most people recognize the name but do not truly know the man behind the name. Nathaniel Hawthorne was a writer who was not like those popular during his time. Finding his passion for writing at an early age, Hawthorne went on to display his scorn for his ancestral past and confront the ideals of transcendentalism.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the village of Salem there is man, Goodman Brown, who is a Christian. He meets a man in the woods, who eerily seems to be expecting Goodman. When the two encounter a woman in the woods, the man is identified by her to be the Devil himself, and her a witch. He also hears the minister and deacon of his church going to the Devil’s ceremony, along with the witch. Goodman thinks that while everyone else is turning to the Devil, he must stay true to God. As the story progresses more, Goodman hears his wife Faith’s voice at the ceremony, which pushes him over the edge and he uses the Devil’s staff to go to the ceremony. Throughout this story, Hawthorne wraps pieces of Romanticism into the plot. There are elements of nature, solitude, and innocence. They help the overall theme of the story emerge because they build up the setting and path for Goodman’s loss of his innocence.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, well known for his attacks on outlandish Puritan ideology in The Scarlet Letter, has always incorporated some aspect of his life and beliefs into his works. Once again, he has successfully conveyed a strong moral concept by utilizing various literary techniques to reveal a disturbing outlook into a man 's soul. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses strong symbolism, irony, and imagery to illustrate the theme of man as one attempting to escape from evil; oblivious to the fact that sin is an escapable part of human nature. In the story, the reader is guided through Goodman Brown 's inner spiritual conflict between good and evil as he takes a journey which will lead him to a life of despair because of the temptations he succumbs to.…

    • 2079 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nathanial Hawthorne had a way of intertwining imagery and symbolism into one. He could put the two together to create an ominous mood throughout his story “Young Goodman Brown”. The focus on the use of symbolism and imagery helps imply the theme, that no one can escape sin, in the story. Hawthorne uses this theme to denounce puritan attitudes and hypocrisy.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    True evil is more than an emotion or an act; it is an existence that encompasses ones complete being. Many authors try to depict evil but never capture the full essence of it. The stories of "Young Goodman Brown"� by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "A Goodman is Hard to Find"� by Flannery O' Connor clearly illustrate pure evil.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever watched curiosity get the best of someone, or heard the age old saying curiosity killed the cat? In the story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates this perfectly by showing just what happens when you start to question those around you. Young Goodman Brown represents an allegory by using religious imagery, character names, and struggles between good and evil. For example, the main characters’ names, Young Goodman Brown and Faith, could symbolize the innocence of youth and how temptations are always lurking. These names might foreshadow that the story is probably based on youth and faith. When the story opens, the first paragraph states, “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is common to find stories, which the theme is easy and comprehensible to read without any hidden message, but some writers using symbols in their stories to clarify the real meaning of their tales keep the reader engaged in the lecture. Young Goodman Brown written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson is an ideal example, where the symbols have an important role in each story and are helpful to contrast and analyze it even when the stories contains symbols that describes evil actions. “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery” are two stories that can be comparable by the use of symbolism through different aspects in their stories such as settings, characters’ names and objects.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When interpreting Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown", one can decide Hawthorne's intentional ambiguity towards Goodman Brown's encounter with the devil in the forest. Throughout the story, textual evidence influences the reader to discover that the meeting with the Devil did actually occur in reality.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He uses symbols to show the internal battle of good versus evil. For instance, the forest symbolizes evil. In the puritan times going into the forest was where evil tactics were done. “My father never went into the woods, or his father before him” (Hawthorne). Hawthorne is basically show the forest as an evil sign so to be caught in the forest makes you an evil person or up to evil stuff. Secondly, Goodman Browns wife Faith is a symbol. Goodman Brown says, “My love and my faith” (Hawthorne). In essence Hawthorne is basically referring to his love in God, not his wife Faith. Each symbol of “Goodman Brown” always came back to the common theme of good versus…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goodman Brown Essay

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a short story about a man who leaves his wife to go on a journey through a forest. The controversial part about the story is whether or not Young Goodman Brown actually experiences the events that take place in the forest. While some people may believe that Young Goodman Brown does actually see everything in the forest, I believe that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of pathos and logos hint that they are all in his imagination.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Young Goodman Brown” is about a normal religious man goes on a journey. In the story, the characters that are mentioned are Young Goodman Brown, Faith, Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, the Old Man, and the minister. In the story, Young Goodman Brown goes on a journey into the forest and meets an Old Man who tells him things to make him doubt his faith. After seeing many things, he begins to doubt his faith. Then, he finally gives in and his opinion on everyone he looked up to is changed and cannot look at everyone the same anymore. In Young Goodman Brown, a theme that is conveyed by use of symbolism throughout the story is that many people hide behind their religion to make them seem good when they are actually liars and sinners.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays