Effective Use Of Allegory In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Maturity is not measured by age, but through experiences and attitude developed by those experiences. Nathaniel Hawthorne, known for the use of sin, guilt, and consciousness in “Young Goodman Brown,” warns of the dark effects growing up under Puritan faith can have on the quality of an individual as well as the dark effects of temptation. Hawthorne’s purpose is to reveal the evil within humans and how it can affect one’s perception of the world. The author adopts a troubled and skeptic tone by use of allegories, symbolism, syntax, and imagery to question the value of dogmatic religious training during YGB’s transition from childhood to adulthood. Hawthorne creates an allegory using YGB’s journey into the forest and his loss of innocence as Brown must accept the role of an adult within his community through the characters and events he encounters on his voyage. Once the elder traveler reveals to Brown that he is very knowledgeable about YGB’s family history, Brown adopts a skeptic tone towards the traveler, as Brown does not believe the elder because

Hawthorne appeals to the saddened emotions of the reader by providing vivid imagery: “in a voice of agony and desperation; and the echoes of the forest mocked [Brown], crying…. The cry of grief, rage, and terror, was yet piercing the night” (Hawthorne 382). The author additionally provides a spooky tone by use of personifications of the forest: “The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds…the wind tolled like a distant church-bell, and sometimes gave a broad roar…as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn” (Hawthorne 382). Brown gives in to this temptation by mocking back at the forest, which signifies his inability to suppress his sinfulness. This rush of passion and imagery from the forest and YGB establishes a gothic and gloomy tone that exhibits the evil within all