Essays on Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown and Sweat are two wonderful short stories authored by two famous American authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Zora Neale Hurston respectively. The short story by Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown, narrates the journey of Young Goodman Brown into self-scrutiny by which he loses his integrity and belief. Sweat by Hurston describes the story of a washer woman and her jobless and insecure husband. Faith provides intense alterations in the life of people. The trial times expose the intensity and genuineness of their faith. The two characters of the two stories display many similarities with respect to their religious ...

Human beings have an inner conscious that gauge them when they try to do what they do not have to do, because the inner being remind them that there are consequences to what they opt to do. Tolstoy and Nathaniel Hawthorne have developed stories that are significantly similar because they explain the inner being and their forces, as well as the outer forces that force people to do what they might not have thought of doing and elaborate on how the devil can mock the virtues of people. Tolstoy story is “How Much Land Does a Man Need” (2015), ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne is sometimes remembered for his landmark text The Scarlet Letter, but he was also a master of the short story. “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story set in the Puritan hamlet of Salem, approximately during the era in which the Salem Witch Trials were occurring (Eberwin 23). The text is an allegorical discussion of human nature, and examines the deepest nature of the human heart: Hawthorne gazes deeply into the human soul in this text, and finds human nature, as a whole, lacking integrity and goodness. “Young Goodman Brown” is a tale that sees the darkest ...

Many authors regard their work as being a single standalone piece of art. By this logic, it can be safe to assume that the authors work their literary pieces to stand out against similar genres of works. However, in some cases many different stories end up sharing the same motif and theme. In many cases like this, it is not because of two authors collaborating to come up with a theme, or lesson, to teach society but a stroke of luck. When forming their stories, authors use society around them to develop their characters, settings, and such so in ...

A great writer Nathaniel Hawthorne is a person who uses different themes and characters in his writings. He is a romantic writer who uses different literary devices, such as metaphor, irony, symbols in order to make his works more understandable and reaching to the reader. He himself as a person has a very interesting family history. His father died and he was forced to live with his relatives, mother and sister. Every writer’s storyline influences their writings and Nathaniel Hawthorne was not an exception to the rule. Hawthorne’s family history shaped the theme of his writing including ...

Young Goodman Brown is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which deals with the journey of introspection undertaken by its protagonist Goodman Brown. First published in the year 1835, the story is heavily influenced by the early Puritan religious beliefs and the culture of Salem, Massachusetts, which is the hometown of Hawthorne.

Theme

The story is one of the most anthologized works of Hawthorne, and is considered to be an attempt to expose the hypocrisy of the puritan beliefs. Many critics see this story as an allegory to ‘Everyman’s crisis of faith’. Through the use of various literary ...

Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown is full of symbolism, imagery and allegory. Imagery helps the reader to visually experience a scene. The description of the forest or the woods by Hawthorne is an instance of Imagery. Woods are vividly described in this short story to be nightmarish and confusing. The encounter with the devil also takes place in the forest. Hence, the forest vividly uses the imagery to be foreboding, ominous, unpredictable and isolated. The story has drawn a vivid imagery to display the association of woods with fear and alienation as has been depicted in fairy tales like Little Red ...

Compare both stories in terms of the representation of evil

The characters in the short stories, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne allow their existence to be transformed by evil threats. The diversion taken by a family in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” causes mayhem, while at the same time, the wrong turn in “Young Goodman Brown” directs him to misery. It is evident that Brown, Misfit and the Grandmother differ on the way they handle evil. Nevertheless, these characters go astray resulting to isolation from the society. In both stories, evil is represented by journeys ...

RESEARCH PAPER

- What is your thesis? (This statement should be only one sentence long and must have three things in it: the name of the primary source author(s), the name of the primary source/story or stories, and the main idea that you are trying to prove. If possible, you may also provide a plan of development and list your 3-4 major points.) The paper tries to analyze whether the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Young Goodman Brown, is a hero or a dupe. It will show how Brown’s weaknesses, including conceit, leads to his demise. The analysis will ...

Introduction

Becoming a hero requires competence in what an individual attempts to do. One may lose the title of a hero simply because of their failure to accomplish the right things appropriately as desirable. A hero should develop the courage to face the difficulties presented by certain situations in their life. Based on the two stories in question, the characters fail to become heroes because they are defeated and do not face the situations, as they should. The paper focuses on proving that young Goodman brown and George Orwell fail to become heroes since they do not courageously face the challenging situations ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, like all good stories, has all the ingredients that keep the reader interested. The Story starts off when an innocent young man goes on a journey across the forest. He is a married man from the village of Salem who takes pride in the community and its leaders. His illusions regarding his society are refuted when he realizes that many of the people in his town, including his wife and the religious leaders are going to attend a Black Mass. Although one is not able to tell whether the story is a nightmare or a true story, it ...

“Young Goodman Brown,” “The Birthmark” and “Ethan Brand” are all notably published works from the dark romanticism sub-genre era published by Nathaniel Hawthorne that have lead characters embracing the concepts of morality and isolation. Hawthorne is an American author well-known mostly for his writings in this particular classification of stories from 1839 to 1860. Hawthorne typically incorporates such topic as isolation, sin, and the devil in his writings. These topics can generate and fester sinister feelings and ideas of alienation, guilt, and gloom. Hawthorn draws influence from multiple aspects of his life, for example, incorporating the use of his ...

Conflict is a violent dispute or incompatibility of views positions between individuals or groups. Conflicts are normal and inevitable and inherent feature of human existence. For conflicts to be present, key issues must be taken into consideration since the analysis of issues gives or assist in the identification of parties to the conflict hence the meaning of the systems in the conflict. As such conflict situations involve cases where individuals or parties have divergent views or incompatible aims which motivate and influence their behavior. As such, the behavior shown by the parties is what will determine the issues in ...

Classic English Literature

Test of Faith in Young Goodman Brown In the short story "Young Goodman Brown," the author Nathaniel Hawthorne makes use of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the readers’ attention. This story is apparently a parable, bursting as it is filled with symbolism of the obscurity within the hearts of common people. The predominant message that Hawthorne intends to deliver through the story is about the powerlessness of the human race, and in order to convey the same, the author has used numerous literary techniques in an entertaining manner to the readers. The story seem to be predominantly ...

Exploring he theme of Isolation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories; “The Minister’s Black Veil”, “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark” Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of many short stories in which he portrays his characters with some dilemma where they must make up their minds about what is wrong from what is right. His stories end with morals that can be learned through his characters’ actions. Most of the stories he wrote are filled with themes of guilt and there are many themes of loneliness and sadness. His main characters are reclusive and lived sheltered lives. ...

Introduction

Change is ever present aspect of human life. The dynamic nature of the society and the environment means that people cannot afford to stay in the same position and must adapt their lifestyles, attitude and behavior occasionally in order to fit in. This description is fitting to the involuntary type of change. On the other hand, change can be voluntary especially when it is motivated by personal convictions such as the desire for success. Change is a theme that appears in many literature publications. “Young Goodman Brown” and “Sweat’ are two famous short stories that feature characters going through change. ...

The Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is a presentation of a moral conflict between evil and good. The beginning of the story sets the environment of conflicting moral will. Goodman bade farewell to his lovely wife Faith, even though she spent a considerable time persuading him to sleep in his bed that night. ‘"Dearest heart," whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed to-night’ (Hawthorn 81). Goodman’s journey into the woods marked the genesis of his quest for trust in God or ...

[Subject/Course] [Submission Date] After his nocturnal adventure in the forest, Goodman Brown started to view society as divided into good and bad. He realizes that each and every human being faces and experiences temptations and has an inclination to jump to conclusions about others with no adequate proof. It can be said that his adventure made Goodman Brown see both the darker and brighter sides of life. The mentioned experience makes him understand that an individual’s morality is impacted in a particular way by beauty and ugliness and the same is applicable for the society. Nathaniel Hawthorne ...

Young Goodman Brown is a moral story about a Puritan minister, which is told by one religious leader. The author of the story is Nathaniel Hawthorne, who used unimportant concepts in order to show the story’s alternative meaning. In his allegorical story he symbolized the things and feelings in people’s life, like faith, love, fear and others, and different characters and setting are used to represent these feelings. The main character of the story, Goodman Brown ventures on a journey into the local forest and meets a devil, who tempts the man for different things. Young Brown must refuse that the ...

Characters make up all stories; it is what makes them interesting. The character in the story is a figure around which action revolves. Be it humans, figures, animals, the author can make a character out of anything (Josephs, 1995). The aspects that make an individual identify a character as such, are the aspects to which the author reveals to them, either diegetically or mimetically (Josephs, 1995). In a diegetic characterization, the author reveals to the readers the character by explicitly telling them who he is. This achievement uses the third person where the author is in the observer’s position and reveals his/ ...

Literature often deals with various conflicts involving people; wars, families, cultures, nations, and many other factors pit one or more people against each other. However, pivotal moments in literature often occur within the characters themselves. A character may struggle within himself, and this internal struggle can reveal much about the character and therefore the aim of the literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” are short stories that deal intimately with the internal conflict of their protagonists, which reveals much about the characters. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown,” ...

Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne ranks among the world’s major authors. His proficiency in the art of literature, particularly short fiction is unmatched. Two of his most famous works are Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. In these two short fictional stories, Hawthorne portrays a romantic view of sin and people. Like many other romantic literature pieces, the setting of the stories is dark and gloomy. Religion plays a huge role in both stories. History reveals that the American nation was partly founded through the ideals of religion. From its inception, religion has helped to shape and define the modern ...

The house move is an important episode in Esperanza’s life since it demonstrates her parent’s ownership of something which is actually theirs. However Esperanza actually feels rather short changed by the house itself since it is small and run down and she actually wishes that the family could move somewhere else. We observe that the house is located in a particular area in Chicago where racial segregation is still prominent and which actually rules the roost. The move from the apartment to the house is symbolic of an emotional journey for Esperanza. Through this journey she experiences ...

Choices are things that have been discussed in literature for many years, as it carries a universal resonance for all people who wish to reach a destination or accomplish a goal. Frost’s protagonist in the poem “The Road Not Taken” is seemingly obsessed with the time where he came across a fork in the path in a forest, took one path, and didn’t go back and take the other one. He hems and haws about what might have been on the inside, even as outwardly he exclaims that he did take the road less traveled (and therefore preferable). He is ‘sorry he ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a variety of literary devices in creating a story with a strong theme and characters which are fully rounded and believable. Of these devices, his use of symbolism and imagery are rife. This is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. As with many of Hawthorne’s works, this story has been discussed by many academics in the field over the years since it ...

Article Summary: Levy, Leo B., "The Problem of Faith in `Young Goodman Brown'”, Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 75(3) July 1975: 375-87. In "The Problem of Faith in `Young Goodman Brown'” (Journal of English and Germanic Philology, July, 1975), Leo Levy finds that the story is ambiguous about whether the protagonist is dreaming, mentally disturbed or undergoing a crisis of faith (Faith) because all three elements are present in the story. Although the most important event in the story is the witch’s Sabbath in the forest, Hawthorne never makes it clear if this was a real or ...

This essay deals with the question of irony in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” where one man’s journey into the forest, late at night, and the sights he witnesses there, change his life forever. Seeing that all the people he thought devout, pious and morally upright, are actually devil worshippers, even his own wife Faith, Brown loses his own faith in humanity and becomes an estranged person.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” conveys an attack on the eccentric Puritan dogma, which utilized a strong moral concept, simultaneously brutally punishing all those who disobeyed. The ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne introduces a strong theme of Puritan religious beliefs. His narrative vehicle for this is Satan who, throughout the story, destroys the protagonist’s faith. “Young Goodman Brown” is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. Certainly the element of this story that stands out the most dramatically is that of Satan and the means he adopts to manipulate the protagonist. Numerous strategies have ...

In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a variety of literary devices in creating a story with a strong theme and characters which are fully rounded and believable. Of these devices, his use of symbolism and imagery are rife. This is of the more well-known stories exploring 17th Century Puritanism and, even on a first read, it is clear why. Hawthorne depicts the chosen situation carefully and convincingly to the reader, not only entertaining them but also informing them as well. As with many of Hawthorne’s works, this story has been discussed by many academics in the field over the years since it ...

"Young Goodman Brown" - Symbolism

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown," the titular character is a pious, faithful man in Salem, Massachusetts who leaves his wife to run a mysterious errand out in the forest.. Along the way, he encounters many different people and situations along the way, eventually resulting in a horrific dream that shows the fallibility of humankind and the ineffectiveness of Christianity. Hawthorne tells the tale of a naive, faithful young man who begins his fall from grace and acknowledging the presence of evil in the world, especially in other people. The story is rife with symbolism, and ...

Cumulatively, the different elements in the short story Young Goodman Brown combine to give it a hue of an allegory. First and foremost, the journey into the evil forest might be considered as a conscious effort by the lead character to search the soul of the society. Young Goodman Brown makes the deliberate effort to test the strength of the structures which support some of the fundamental institutions, assumptions, and character of the people he has lived with and taken for granted. Character is usually deceiving when considered at face value. The real essence of an individual can only be evaluated ...

"Young Goodman Brown" tells the tale of a naive, faithful young man who begins his fall from grace and acknowledging the presence of evil in the world, especially in other people. The story, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is rife with symbolism, and takes Goodman from a place of innocence to cynicism. The various symbols of the short story will be detailed, and examined in terms of what they indicate to the reader.

One of the clearest signals in Hawthorne's story is the name of the wife - Faith. In the short story, Goodman is leaving his wife Faith to embark on a journey ...