Corruption Exposed In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

758 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism and allegory in young goodman brown

"Young Goodman Brown" is an ethical story, which is told through the corruption of a religious pioneer. In "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a Puritan pastor who lets his pride in himself meddle with his relations with his community after he meets with the devil, and makes him carry on with the life of an outcast in his own community. "Young Goodman Brown" begins when Brown's wife, asks him not to go out. Goodman Brown says to his wife "this one night I must tarry away from thee." When he says his "love" and his "Faith", he is referring to his wife, and his faith in God. He then wanders into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his verifiable confidence in God with his wife. In the text it states that he will …show more content…

Brown begins to say that he originates from a "race of honest men and good Christians" and that his dad never went on this errand and neither will he. The Devil rushes to bring up the point that he was with his dad and granddad when they were beating a woman and burning down an Indian town. These demonstrations are humorous in that they were awful deeds done for the sake of good, and it shows that Goodman Brown doesn't really come from a great Christian background. "Young Goodman Brown" finishes when Brown comes back to Salem at dawn. He doesn't believe that he is in the same place that he was the night before; in light of the fact that to him, Salem was no longer his home.He felt like an outsider in a world of sinners and Devil worshippers.Brown expresses his discomfort with his new surroundings. His outrage towards the community grows stronger when he sees Faith who is very excited to see him. The text states,"sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting." This demonstrates how Brown can't stand to look at his wife the same. He feels that despite the fact that he was at the Devil's service, he is still superior to other people in that community due to his pride. Brown feels as if he can belittle and put his wrong doings on others rather than observing his own actions and resolving his problems

Show More
Related

  • Free College Essays - Allegory and Symbolism in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    The use of symbolism in "young Goodman Brown" shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this short story. Hawthorne's works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements. "Young Goodman Brown" deals mostly with conventional allegorical elements, such as Young Goodman Brown and Faith. In writing his short stories or novels he based their depiction of sin on the fact that he feels like his father and grandfather committed great sins. There are two main characters in this short story, Faith and Young Goodman Brown. "Young Goodman Brown is everyman seventeenth-century New England the title as usual giving the clue. He is the son of the Old Adam, and recently wedded to Faith. We must note that every word is significant in the opening sentence: "Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street of Sale, Village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young w2ife.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Follow Your Faith In Young Goodman Brown

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    This was shocking for Young Goodman Brown because everyone from town who were claiming to be Christians were here worshipping the devil. The symbolic part of the story is that all people will sin and even Jesus has sinned. But in Goodman Brown anyone who has sinned cannot be trusted because they follow the devil. The devil is at the altar and a basin which is like a big bowl, but what was in it “Did it contain water, reddened be the lurid light? or was it blood?” (12). As the devil was going to mark them with the liquid from the basin. Goodman Brown yelled “Faith! Faith! Cried the husband, look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one”(12). Goodman Brown did not know if Faith had heard him. This conflict is when Goodman Brown finds out that everyone worshipped the devil and that he was the only one who had stayed true towards his religion. This is ironic because there is no one in the world who has not sinned, and for Goodman Brown to think that he is the one and only one to have not sinned is the reason it is

    Read More

  • Goodman Brown’s Loss of Faith in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Young Goodman Brown based on morals and what Easterly in "Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' " calls "spiritual maturity" (Easterly 339). In the short story, Goodman Brown, a young Puritan leaves his wife of three months to watch a witch ceremony in the forest. During this point in time, Puritans based their lives on teachings of religion and morality; therefore, witch-meetings were surely immoral, and they betrayed the commitment of God. Dwelling in the forest throughout the night, Goodman Brown experiences an event that changes his entire perspective of life. In one night, the event destroys "his relationship with his wife Faith, isolates him from his neighbors, and destroys his ability to worship God"(Easterly 339). Eventually, Goodman Brown dies without his faith, and "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom"(Easterly 339).

    Read More

  • Excessive Pride in Young Goodman Brown

    2406 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Young Goodman Brown" begins when Faith, Brown's wife, asks him not to go on an "errand".  Goodman Brown says to his "love and (my) Faith" that "this one night I must tarry away from thee."  When he says his "love" and his "Faith", he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his "faith" to God.  He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife.  He resolves that he will "cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven."  This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before.

    Read More

  • Faith in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegorical story “Young Goodman Brown” is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late sixteen hundreds in a time of religious hysteria and only a few generations after the infamous witch trials. Although "Young Goodman Brown" is a fictional tale, it is based on the cynical environment of Salem during this time period. The short story is filled with many literary elements, leading you to question what did exactly happen to the main character at the conclusion. When analyzing a story like "Young Goodman Brown", one must recognize that the story is at whole symbolic. In the text, symbols are used to uncover the truth of the characters. The role of Faith as both a character and a spiritual element are crucial to both the story and the character of Young Goodman Brown.

    Read More

  • How Is Being An American Related To Young Goodman Brown?

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    The biggest symbol in Young Goodman Brown is the idea of faith. Before he goes on his “errand,” he is talking to his wife, promising he will come back, but in actuality he is talking to his faith, as in religion. He subconsciously knows he is going against his faith on this errand, but will return. “My love and my Faith,” replied young Goodman Brown, “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again…” When Brown says later in the story “I am losing my Faith”, he is not only about his wife, (which is shown through her pink ribbon in the tree), but more about his religion, which is flashing before his eyes. This errand was a test of Goodman Brown’s faith. When Brown hears people singing hymns in swears, it is a symbol of the corruption of the church. The name Goodman Brown I think is very ironic. Is he a good man after this errand?

    Read More

  • Tone And Temptation In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    The overall tone for the passage is more skeptical in the beginning as Brown tries to figure out his stand on the subject of his Puritan faith, however, it shifts towards a traffic tenor at the end as he lives with the consequences of his choices from the night in the woods when he decided to walk along side with the weary old traveler. The symbolism of this passage is so robust, with such great significance behind it. Young Brown proclaims during his journey, “‘Faith! Faith!’ as if bewildered wretches were seeking her, all through the wilderness… ‘My Faith is gone!’ cried he, after one stupefied moment. ‘There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name’” (Hawthorne 251). The symbolism of this passage is so strong, with such great significance behind it. As he shouts from the rooftops that he has lost his wife Faith, which can be inferred to be his own personal faith. Sheer panic filled the air once he realizes that he had turned away from his heritage, involuntary choosing to eliminate his faith from his life. How did he lose his faith within that night? He chose to follow the traveler with the serpent staff, casted as the devil, as the walk along in the woods, representing hell. Just like the devil tempted Jesus, he did so with Brown,

    Read More

  • Young Goodman Brown

    1882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Young Goodman Brown is about a young, newly wedded man who leaves his wife, Faith, and to go on a journey into the forest one night. Young Goodman Brown has an innocent and maybe even naïve soul and was looked upon by townspeople as a “silly fellow” (Hawthorne 83). He is accompanied by a mysterious, older man who is later on revealed to be the devil. As they are walking, Young Goodman Brown tries to turn back several times and at one point succeeds in getting rid of the devil. However, when he sees that even his wife has surrendered to the same evil path that he was on, he stops resisting and continues into the forest. He ends up at a witches’ sabbath where he sees familiar faces of people whom he previously looked up to for spiritual guidance; he also finds Faith there and becomes devastated. In the end, he cries out to resist the devil and then wakes up to find himself alone in the forest.

    Read More

  • Young Goodman Brown's Transformation

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Young Goodman Brown goes from being overly trusting to becoming a paranoid, untrusting man. Once Goodman Brown arrives at the destination and walks with the stranger, they start talking about Goodman Brown's family and how they had traveled down the very same road he is now, however Goodman Brown refuses to believe the traveler: “‘I marvel they never spoke of these matters. Or, verily, I marvel not, […] We are people of prayer” (621). Goodman Brown says he “marvels” at what the stranger has said and insists that his family is a family of prayer and holiness. He later says that he “marvels not’ expressing his disbelief ion the strangers statement. Young Goodman Brown's faith in his religion and that his family are loyal to his religion lead Goodman Brown to believe that they can do no wrong. He has this same reaction when he sees the minister and deacon of his village in the woods, discussing the meeting they are going to: “'besides several Indian powows, who, after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us’ […] Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree for suppo...

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unfortunately, Goodman Brown truly has lost his faith. Though his wife appears unchanged and wishes to welcome him with open, loving arms Brown rejects her. The reader is left slightly confused as to why, but perhaps Brown has given up hope that good can win over the enormous amount of sin or evil out there. He is unable to accept Faith now that he is forced to see her in her unclean or imperfect state. Brown can no longer see the good for the evil surrounding him, and has lost all hope. Although Brown tried to resist the devil, in the end he failed in his journey of exploring evil and returning to the side of good.

    Read More

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    1846 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...rator describes Brown as “a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man…” (2215). He can no longer look upon his community with the same hopefulness he once had. He becomes cynical of his surroundings and lives his life accordingly. His discovery of evil results in his loss of grips with humanity. He comes to believe there is evil in all people and is unable to accept it. He grows old with contempt for his former idols, and never again is he able to conceive of the idea that life is pure, grand, and good. At his funeral, his family has nothing encouraging to put on his grave, and neighbors do not even bother to attend. Thus, he is depicted, even in death, as an individual unable to find happiness in his own family and friends.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Setting in Young Goodman Brown

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ed by the devil tempting Brown to join the dark side. The way in which the devil lures Brown is by convincing him that his relatives and town's people have already crossed over to the dark side and denied their faith. The struggle that Brown is now facing is whether to follow is relatives and town's people or to follow his faith in god and deny the devil, that is Brown's internal conflict. These internal and external conflicts are what turned Brown into a dynamic character by the end of the story. Instead of believing and trusting that his relatives and friends are godly, he now knows that they have all been tempted by the devil and many have crossed over to the dark side; he went from being trusting to skeptical of his friends and his faith.

    Read More

  • The Journey of Young Goodman Brown

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...Brown, like all humans, sees that everyone can be corrupt and immoral, that it is possible for people to make mistakes. This is extremely disappointing to brown and ruins him. Brown felt that he made the right decision and did not follow the devil, but everyone else around him did. Even his own wife follows the devil. She is supposed to represent holiness and faith, and she is just as corrupt as everyone else. This portrays how even the church, which is supposed to be holy, can be corrupt. The story symbolizes that everyone in society is flawed and no one is perfect. However this idea drives Goodman brown to become insane. He dwells on this fact and loses his ability to see the good in people as well as the bad. Brown couldn't realize that even if people are evil at times, they can still be good people. This is what caused brown to change so drastically.

    Read More

  • Woman as an Occasion for Disillusionment in “Young Goodman Brown”

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    Young Goodman Brown is a newlywed Puritan who leaves his wife, Faith on what he terms “an errand,” which the reader later learns to be a meeting with the devil. Brown believes he can face and resist the devil. Initially, his wife, Faith, begs him to stay, and Brown patronizingly soothes her only to discover her as one of the devil’s converts. Ultimately, Brown holds Faith most culpable for his disillusion with the supposed elect of his community.

    Read More

  • Loss Of Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    When he found himself filled with doubts and his beliefs of good and evil, just the thought of his wife, Faith, supporting him. Brown began to pray when he hears Faith's voice, and soon found that she was about to launch into the devil's party. Brown scream confidence to resist the devil, but immediately found himself alone in the forest. The next morning he returned to town, He never finds out whether he dreamed his experience in the forest or if it really took place, but since then, Brown was a lonely, do not trust the people, rejected his wife and his

    Read More

More about Corruption Exposed In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Open Document