Young Goodman Brown: Analysis

“Young Goodman Brown”
I. Elements of Fiction
Analysis of plot in “Young Goodman Brown” 1.
Why are members of Goodman Brown’s community such as Goody Cloyse, Deacon
Gookin, and the minister used to undermine his heavenly faith? In other words, why does the
“evil” demonstrated in Brown’s fellow community members create such a powerful conflict for him and serve as such as significant plot complication?

2.
Goodman Brown’s feeling of “brotherhood” with evil, the “sympathy of all that was wicked in his heart,” seems like a significant part of his motivation to step forward in this passage. What is the origin or cause of this impulse? In your view, is the impulse externally driven (caused by something outside of Brown) or internally driven (caused by something inside of him)?

3.
How would the overall meaning and effect of the story be changed if Goodman Brown had, after resisting temptation, lived a happy life full of good feeling for his fellow humans instead of a life of gloom? Analysis of setting in “Young Goodman Brown” 1.
What is added to the story by the fact that it is set in Salem? How would the story have been different if set in a town with no history of “witchcraft”?
2.
What is the significance of the forest setting in this story? How does the placement of the ceremony in the forest help develop the story’s mood and theme?
Analysis of symbolism, allegory, and image in “Young Goodman Brown” 1.
Could the symbol of the pink ribbon be used in a similar way for today’s readers? What are the differences in the meanings associated with the pink ribbon in Hawthorne’s story as compared with the way the symbol might function today? What are the similarities? 2.
Hawthorne ensures that there is some ambiguity at the end of the story by suggesting that Goodman Brown’s experience in the forest could be a dream. How would the story have been different if it were made clear that Brown's experience actually did happen? What if it were made clear that it really was a dream?

II. Cultural Contexts
Salem Witch Trials Nathaniel Hawthorne, excerpt from "The Custom House" 1.
How does Nathaniel Hawthorne seem to regard his ancestors?

2.
Whose blood stains the old bones of John Halthorne?

3.
Some scholars have suggested that Nathaniel Hawthorne blames the decline of his family and his personal misfortunes on the acts and ideas of his ancestors. After reading this piece, do you agree? Why or why not?

Testimony on the Conviction of Elizabeth Jackson Howe and photo of Gallows Hill 1.
Put yourself in the place of Howe, of her accuser, of those who found her guilty, and the court recorder. Who do you sympathize with the most and why?

2.
What do you think of the state of mind of the people described in this account of
Howe’s trial? What comparisons can you make between these people and the villagers in
“Young Goodman Brown”?

3.
What do you think of the actions of the people described in this account? Do you think they acted appropriately given the time and place?

T. H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch 1.
Can you tell in this image who the judges are and who is being judged?

2.
What do the colors represent? What point might the artist have wanted to make by painting some people in lavish color and others in black and white?

3.
Why do you think the older woman is pointing to the bare back of another woman, and why is a third woman undressing her?

Puritan New England

Nathaniel Hawthorne, excerpt from “Earth’s Holocaust”b