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Nathaniel Hawthorne's main critique of puritans
Nathaniel Hawthorne's main critique of puritans
Allegory in YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN
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I. Thesis:Young Goodman Brown’s Journey implies his moral ambivalence and evil nature.
“Young Goodman Brown” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and was issued in 1835. This short story takes place in a small community of puritans in New England in 17th century. “Young Goodman Brown” is fine an example of human are wicked by nature.
II. Topic sentence: The significant role of Faith in the story
A. Faith played a significant role to the protagonist. The precise implication of Faith to Young Goodman Brown is at the beginning of the story as they exchange kisses and say farewell. For example, He kept thinking back about Faith in the wood. He always thought of her as a pure and innocence as an angel.
B. Primary Quote: The Narrator has stated “Well,
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Topic sentence: Brown’s religious ambivalence is the conflict inside of his mind. It was mentioned several times by Hawthorne and Paulits.
A. The implication of Goodman Brown’s religious ambivalence through Faith. The evidence is mentioned in the first quote by the Narrator.
B. Primary Quote:The Narrator has suggested “Faith kept me back a while” (Hawthorne 2)
C. As Young Goodman Brown answers to the devil the reason of the delay. He reasoned said it was his wife who keeps him back then. But in truth, he was hesitated because of his religious ambivalence. He was unsure whether to stay with Faith or follow the Devil.
D. At first, Goodman Brown hesitated to follow the devil. However, he still decide to follow it with doubt. Even though, Brown knows what he was doing is a sin. This is a fine example of Goodman Brown’s ambivalence, of how he struggle between good and evil, between faith and the devil.
E. The secondary quote is implication of the devil’s desire to persuade Goodman Brown. He was not succeeded. Until then, Goodman Brown’s religion ambivalence will remain the same.
F. Secondary Quote: Told out by the Narrator “The devil had not succeeded in fixing the vacillating brown with any of the previous temptations, and until he does succeed, Brown 's ambivalence will continue” (Paulits
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Based off the quote, Goodman Brown and the Devil share similarity in expression, this indicates they both share same nature and personalities. Therefore, the Devil is a reflected image of Goodman Brown.
E. In the perspective of Hurley, he revealed that Goodman Brown’s desire of his journey is a sin. Also Goodman Brown was awared of everything he was going through.
F. Secondary Quote: The Narrator said “Hawthorne makes clear at once that Goodman Brown 's purpose on this night is an evil one. The fact that he is aware of the sin- fulness of his trip destroys any belief we may have in Goodman Brown 's ‘simple and pious nature’ ” (Hurley 412)
G. The Devil’s physical resemblance to Goodman Brown because Brown purpose on the night is evil one. Both Goodman Brown and the devil are aware of this factor. This is why Goodman Brown was not surprise when they share the same appearance.
H. The physical appearance similarity is indicated because Satan was accquainted with Brown’s family members, such as his father and Grand-father. He must have known them well. The devil also aware of Goodman Brown’s immoral purpose of his journey. Therefore, the devil’s similarity with Goodman Brown is common sense.
V. Discuss the implications of his
In “Young Goodman Brown” the author Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a story about how Young Goodman Brown, who is a recent Christian man and was going to test his faith against the devil, but the devil was not going to make it easy since he test Young Goodman Brown along the way.
"Why did Goodman Brown leave his wife to fulfill an evil purpose?" "What was his evil purpose?" "Who did he meet in the woods?" "Was it a dream or was it reality?" These are just a few of the questions that ran through my head after reading the short story, Young Goodman Brown. After several nights of reading, rereading, thinking, and debating I've received many revelations of this story; one being the true identity of the "fellow-traveler" mentioned throughout this adventurous tale. You see, he was not just any man, he was the devil himself.
In Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, the main character, Young Goodman Brown, jumped to the conclusion that everyone in his village was working with the devil after he had a dream about a meeting in the forest. The first piece of evidence that Young Goodman Brown jumped to conclusion is how he treated his wife when he came back from the forest compared to how he treated his wife in the beginning. In the beginning, Faith was “a blessed angel” (“Young Goodman Brown” 1) and he said when he got back he would follow her to heaven. Then afterward, often at mi...
...ssed though the use of setting, foreshadowing, and symbolism. William Graham Sumner once said “Men never cling to their dreams with such tenacity as at the moment when they are losing faith in them, and know it, but do not dare yet to confess it to themselves.” (brainyquote.com). This statement holds many truths to the thoughts and actions of the young Goodman Brown in Hawthorne’s allegorical story. Brown was quick to go on his foreboding quest, knowing what his meeting with the devil may lead to, and only when threatened and scared attempted to turn back to hold on to both Faith physically and psychologically. Whether his journey into the forest was an illusion or not, Brown’s perception of faith in society have been dramatically altered, as he may have lost all faith in humanity.
During Goodman Brown’s journey, he recognized Goody Cloyse, his catechism teacher, the preacher, and Deacon Gookin is going to the devil’s meeting. However, after seeing his church members at the devil’s meeting, Goodman says, “My Faith is gone! and There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come devil! for to thee is this world given” (Hawthorne 27). “But, where is Faith?”, asked Goodman Brown (Hawthorne 29). As hope came into his heart, he trembled when he found the pink ribbon of his wife, Faith, in the forest. At that moment, Goodman Brown lost his faith in his family and church members. Goodman becomes unforgiving of others and believes only evil can be created from evil and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it. Here, Hawthorne demonstrates that a naive faith in our family, friends, and church member’s righteousness could lead to distrust. While, “Young Goodman Brown” lives a long life with Faith, he never loses his meanness toward humanity and the evil in the world, “for his dying hour was gloom” (Hawthorne
...dman Brown cries out “My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth and sin is but a name. Come devil! For to thee is this world given”(cite). This where he begins to believe there is only sin in the world and his faith in humanity is completely destroyed. He still vows to stand firm against the devil, however he has doubts that heaven exists at all. With his loss of humanity he can no longer look at his fellow neighbors, which he had once held with high esteem, he now views as sinful and hypocritical. The faith that did shine in his heart the darkness of the world has tainted the idea that life is good and pure. Goodman Brown is completely consumed by his doubts and he is a distrustful and unable to have any sympathy or love to others. He never recovers his faith and even after death his family had nothing to say good about him, “for his dying hour was gloom”(cite).
The next character is the man who Brown meets up with in the woods. This man is described as, "one who knew the world, and who would not have felt abashed at the governor's dinner table or in King William's court" (Kelly, 191). This man can be seen as the devil. He possesses features that illustrate him as the devil. For example his walking staff is described as having "the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent" (Kelly, 191-192).
The above quotation from Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown is of central importance in analyzing the attitudes and ideas present throughout the story, though in a curious way. The quotation (and the story itself), on first reading, seem superficially to portray a central character's loss of faith and the spiritual tragedy contained therein. Rereading, however, reveals a more complex set of ideas, ones which neither fully condemn nor condone the strictly constructed dichotomy of good and evil that Hawthorne employs again and again over the course of Goodman Brown's journey.
Despite the lack of information on Goodman Brown's past, the cause of the trip into the forest is known. He has sinned and knows he has of his own free will. Also Brown experiences the sin of pride. He wants the knowledge about what nobody really knows about: the devil. The major flaw with this thinking is that Brown relies on the village to protect him. He thinks if he decides not to join the devil, the town will greet him with open arms and will fix everything. But when Brown returns to the village, he sees the villagers differently and does not ask for their help.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, Goodman Brown struggles with staying pure and not giving in to the devil. Hawthorne utilizes allegory and ambiguity to leave unanswered questions for the reader.
...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.
At the beginning of his journey, Goodman Brown’s will and pride were both embedded in the belief that he was a pious man. Goodman’s pride in piety evidently fails him, as he discovers that his faith was based on the principles of individuals who had sworn allegiance to the devil. This deplorable truth destroyed his conviction, and in this sense the devil prevailed against Goodman Brown.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” has an underlying theme that is reflected in his imagery and figurative language. As the conversation between Brown and the traveller ends, this theme is evident in the way Brown perceives the traveller’s encouragement to continue along the path. The devil pressures Brown using words that seem to “spring up in the bosom of his auditor” instead of being his own thoughts (215). This suggests that he has given this spiel to others, and it can be inferred that the devil says these things to many of the people he converts. Brown’s description of the conversation is biased by his expectation to find paranormal evils in the forest. Later, when Brown refuses to move another step, the Devil does not plead
Once Brown encounters the Devil in the forest, he starts to get to his senses. The psychological approach analyzes this occurrence as the emergence of the latent unconscious (Freud calls is the preconscious). I was shocked when I read that Goodman Brown resembles the Devil. "In truth, all through the haunted forest there could be nothing more frightful than the figure of Goodman Brown. On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him.
Once Brown encounters the Devil in the forest, he starts to get to his senses. The psychological approach analyzes this occurrence as the emergence of the latent unconscious (Freud calls is the preconscious). I was shocked when I read that Goodman Brown resembles the Devil. "In truth, all through the haunted forest there could be nothing more frightful than the figure of Goodman Brown. On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man" (383). Young Goodman Brown was surprised to hear that his moral tutors and his family worship the Devil. His id, through the wish fulfillment of his dream, is driving him to satisfy his earthly pleasures. He wants to see what drives them all to turn against the Church, but he also wants to stay away from the Devil (this scene represents another conflict between the ego and the id). This picture very much resembles the Bible where Adam and Eve decide to disregard the order and eat the fruit. Finally, his ego prevails and he decides not to go any further. He says: "Friend, my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the Devil when I thought she was going to heaven. Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her" (380). But once he finds out that Faith is going to join the Devil's worshippers, Brown decides to get her back. He goes and reveals himself by screaming: "Faith! Look up to the heaven and resist the wicked one" (386).