Ambiguity in “Young Goodman Brown”
Peter Conn in “Finding a Voice in an New Nation” makes a statement regarding Hawthorne’s ambiguity: “Almost all of Hawthorne’s finest stories are remote in time or place. The glare of contemporary reality immobillized his imagination. He required shadows and half-light, and he sought a nervous equilibrium in ambiguity” (82). There is considerable ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and this essay will examine this and its causes.
R. W. B. Lewis in “The Return into Rime: Hawthorne” mentions the ambiguity associated with the key imagery in “Young Goodman Brown”: “For Hawthorne, the forest was neither the proper home of the admirable Adam, as with Cooper; nor was it the hideout of the malevolent adversary. . . . It was the ambiguous setting of moral choice. . . .” (74-75). Henry James in Hawthorne, when discussing “Young Goodman Brown” mentions how allegorical Hawthorne is, and how it is not clearly expressed with this author:
The only cases in which it is endurable is when it is extremely spontaneous, when the analogy presents itself with eager promptitude. When it shows signs of having been groped and fumbled for, the needful illusion is of course absent, and the failure complete. Then the machinery alone is visible and the end to which it operates becomes a matter of indifference (50).
When one has to grope for, and fumble for, the meaning of a tale, then there is “failure” in the work, as Henry James says. This unfortunately is the case of “Young Goodman Brown.” It is so ambiguous in so many occasions in the tale that a blur rather than a distinct image forms in the mind of the reader.
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The movie Glory is the story of the first African American military unit which fought during the Civil War. This powerful story is told through the eyes of the unit’s leader, Colonel Robert Shaw. The director, Edward Zwick, uses a number of important scenes expressing growth, patriotism and leadership. Whenever there was an obstacle that the 54th regiment needed to overcome faith seemed to be the answer. Faith in their fellow man, faith in their country and faith in God.
"Nathaniel Hawthorne." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/lisle/dial/hawthorne.html
Van Doren, Mark., Ed. "The Best of Hawthorne." New York: The Ronald Press Company. 1951.
When an author writes a short story, they often use symbolism to convey what they mean in as little words as possible; or to spread a message that is easier for others to grasp. “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, are two such short stories that make great use of symbolism throughout the work. “Young Goodman Brown,” a story that is nearly all symbolism, has to be interpreted properly; so that the reader might understand and learn from what he is reading. “Hills Like White Elephants,” a story that uses less symbolism than the previous story, is a story that uses symbolism to talk about something that was forbidden at the time that this story takes place. Both stories use different styles of symbolism, and hidden meanings, to convey what the author is trying to get across to his readers.
Debord uses the term ‘postcapitalist narrative’ to denote the collapse, and subsequent stasis, of patriarchialist society. Therefore, la Tournier[4] suggests that we have to choose between postpatriarchialist deconstruction and Lacanist obscurity.
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“Nathaniel Hawthorne.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Prentice Hall Literature, The American Experience. New Jersey: Oscar F. Bluemner, 1915. 266-67.
There are many theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency and the factors that cause it. There is, and has been, a great amount of young people who engage in delinquent behavior throughout the nation and worldwide. What exactly is the catalyst that incites these young people to commit crime and stray from the ethical norm established in society? Are all youth susceptible to the temptation of deviant behavior or is it just some? Theories suggest different possible etiologies, which include: social factors, biological factors, psychological factors and physiological factors, among other things that may mold a child into a juvenile delinquent.