Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind
" 'Lo! there ye stand, my children,' said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. 'Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!' " This particular quote has the mark of cynicism that although may not be common in our time for writing, was probably a very common writing style during certain times in the history of American Literature. This of course would depend on the dominating religious culture of the time. Since Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings were created briefly after the times of the Salem Witch Trials, since one of his ancestors was a judge at the trials, it would be apparent to most that the religious overtones were ones of the righteousness and damnation (Norton Anthology, p. 547). Their inherant belief, which was very much portrayed in the story, was in predestination. This meant that they believed that all the chosen ones were selected before birth by God, and no matter what their actions were, they were saved. Everyone else apparently went to hell. They believed that one could tell who a chosen one was by their deeds and action of goodness and kindness. However, one should still try to be as good as they possibly could even if they weren't one of the chosen because God might have mercy on them and save them anyway for being so good. So the concensus during this particular time was that those that were righteous were chosen and that everyone in ...
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...d refers to a group of people sharing something in common, but given the context of the story, we can't ignore the biblical connotations of communion. Therefore we are justified in pointing out these various definitions of communion.
Obviously Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates his skill at combining many meanings and implications about the pervasive evil nature of man in the story Young Goodman Brown. This statement can be argued by observing both his literal and symbolic meanings. "Evil is the nature of mankind." This is the epitome of the story from Satan's taking the persona of a religious leader to the people viewing him as one. The story can be read at many different levels from the shallow reader to the very indepth reader. However, behind every level is the underlying theme that evil is the nature of mankind.
Baddock, David, and Susan Parish. "An Institutional History of Disability." Handbook of Disability Studies. California: SAGE, 2001. 11-38. Print.
In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne tells the story of a young man discovering man's true nature in a fantasized visit to hell. He encounters a world where everyone is equally evil, including the most "holy" of people. Hawthorne's hell is a parallel to the influence of the Church on the real world.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown is a story of sex, sin, and the Devil, all the entertaining things in life. Hawthorne uses many literary devices to impress strength in his work. Hawthorne uses these techniques to bring out the religious themes within the story.
"Civil Rights for Minorities During and After World War II." Civil Rights for Minorities During and After World War II. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
Avey, Tori. "The Great Gatsby, Prohibition, and Fitzgerald." PBS, 14 May 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
23 .Roger Daniel, Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in the World War II 1993, Hill and Yang.
... like Hester. He is implying that she is the victim and that the Puritans are actually at fault for this sin. Hawthorne's main goal is to convey the Puritans as sinful and unholy. He does not approve of the sin they hide and he thinks there should be punishment for their actions.
In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism. Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young Goodman Brown is unable to accept the indefinable vision of betrayal and evil that he encounters in the forest. The uncertainty of this vision, enhanced by Hawthorne's deliberate, yet effective, use of ambiguity, is also seen in the character of Faith, the shadows and darkness of the forest, and the undetectable boundaries that separate nightmarish dreams from reality.
Dorothy Parker was a female writer in the 1920’s and is still known all around the world for her wit. Parker was a member of one of the most affluent groups in New York City at the time, the Algonquin Round Table. Besides her wit Parker also was known for her drinking problem, many suicide attempts and string of failed relationships. The most popular and prized of Parker’s works is a short story entitled “Big Blonde.” This story won the O’Henry Prize for best short story in 1929. In this story Parker creates a character who is tapped a society that revolves around a woman’s need to be nothing more than a pretty face who is always having a good time. Parker went above and beyond of showing the irony of the ideals women are held to and how they can eventually lead to the destruction of who they are. She does not write about a woman who are liberated or free, she instead shows a woman who are trapped and vulnerable. She took a very different stance then a lot of women of her time on women’s new found position in pro-suffrage society. She focuses much more on the way men saw women an amusement. In fact Parker creates women who are trapped as being a means of entertainment for the men. They are to live up to that idea and if they do not they are easily replaced with another.
...Yamamoto’s ‘The Legend of Miss Sasagawara’.” Notes on Contemporary Literature 39. 2 (2009). Student Resources in Context. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
Japanese-American internment camps were a dark time in America’s history, often compared to the concentration camps in Germany (Hane, 572). The internment camps were essentially prisons in which all Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were forced to live during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor Naval base in Hawaii. They were located in inland western states due to the mass hysteria that Japanese-Americans were conspiring with Japan to invade and/or attack the United States. At the time the general consensus was that these camps were a good way to protect the country, but after the war many realized that the camps were not the best option. Textbooks did not usually mention the internment camps at all, as it is not a subject most Americans want to talk about, much less remember. Recently more textbooks and historians talk about the camps, even life inside them. Some Japanese-Americans say that their experiences after being released from the internment camps were not as negative as most people may think. Although the Japanese-American internment camps were brutal to go through, in the long run it led to Japanese-Americans’ movement from the west coast and their upward movement in society through opportunities found in a new urban environment such as Chicago and St. Louis.
Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism throughout his short story Young Goodman Brown to impact and clarify the theme of good people sometimes doing bad things. Hawthorne uses a variety of light and dark imagery, names, and people to illustrate irony and different translations. Young Goodman Brown is a story about a man who comes to terms with the reality that people are imperfect and flawed and then dies a bitter death from the enlightenment of his journey through the woods. Images of darkness, symbolic representations of names and people and the journey through the woods all attribute to Hawthorne's theme of good people sometimes doing bad things.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown,” the author uses danger and mystery to represent the struggle of good versus evil. Young Goodman Brown journeys into the night and comes to realize an unforgiving truth. Everyone is in danger of abandoning their faith or is inherently evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne has filled this story symbolism, after reading this story the reader may have questions about Young Goodman Browns’ determination to journey towards his evil purpose. Nathaniel Hawthorne implies strong faith can endure but when that faith is destroyed, what view does a person have towards mankind? Let us take a look at Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of significant symbols throughout “Young Goodman Brown.”
Fifty years ago, the typical American family included a mother, father and their children. However today, “One in every four children in the United States are being raised by a single parent. Experts point to a variety of factors to explain the high US figure including a cultural shift toward greater acceptance of single parent rearing.”(Armario). As these numbers continue to rise due to modern day ideas and the increasing divorce rate, the children of single parents struggle. “Today 41% of all births were to unmarried women.”(Hymowitz). Single parent families have a detrimental effect on the psychological development of children because single parent families lack financial stability and quality parenting, in addition to lacking a stress free environment.
There are almost 13 million single parents today in the U.S. (Lauer, 2012). Each single-parent family is different and faces individual trials, including testing the limits of family and what it means to be related. No matter the causes of single parenthood—whether it be from a parent passing away, divorce, or someone simply choosing to have a child without being married—the conflicts plaguing these families are very similar. The statement “single parenting is the toughest job in the world” is a bold one that highlights the struggles of single parents everywhere, and it is one I happen to agree with.