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Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown

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Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown
In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is a lot of symbolism that can be analyzed. In an analysis of the symbolism in Hawthorne’s story we follow Goodman Brown on a Journey into the forest to see what the devil has to offer because of the doubts Goodman had been facing in his religion. As Goodman travels deeper into the forest he begins to question his religion more and more.
As the story begins Goodman is saying goodbye to his wife Faith. She doesn’t want him to leave, but Goodman insists on leaving, he has to go on this Journey. Goodman tells Faith, “Say thy prayers … and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” he is trying to indulge in the devil and fulfill his Godly duties. Faith, Goodman’s wife, represents his faith in God. …show more content…
This foreshadows that something bad is about to happen. Upon entering the forest Goodman encounters a traveler. This traveler seems to be a regular man, dressed in regular clothes and resemblance of a regular man. However this man had a black serpentine staff. The traveler Goodman encounters represents Satan, and he is pulling Goodman deeper into the forest. He makes Goodman begin to question his faith with stories about his father and grandfather not being the holy people they claimed to be. The staff the traveler carries is also a representation of evil. The traveler keeps trying to get Goodman to take the staff, which means he wants Goodman to turn evil.
Goodman unearths many strange things on his journey. He comes across many people that he thought were good Christian people taking apart in acts of the devil. The first person he found was Goody Cloyse, the person that taught Goodman his catechism. She turns out to be a witch. He then hears the voice of a deacon and the minister. All these people represent hypocrisy. God-fearing people by day, but dabbling in the work of Satan by
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