Symbolism And Imagery In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who was an American novelist This short story was published in the year of 1835. By utilizing symbolism and imagery, Hawthorne proves that everyone is evil within themselves and we should not hate them for their sin but hate the sins itself and we should love the sinners.

Young Goodman Brown shows that he has a vigorous faith before he enters the forest and occasionally throughout his journey to the black mass. Hawthorne utilizes Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, as a symbol of Goodman Brown’s own faith during the story. From the beginning of Faith’s descriptions, you could see Goodman Brown’s strong faith: “And Faith, as the wife aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her

When Goodman Brown is at first approached by the dark figure in the forest and is told he is late, he responds, “Faith kept me back awhile” (Page ). The name of his wife signifies Goodman Brown’s own faith and shows he had to make an agreement to it even in the beginning of his journey to the forest. Another symbolism is when Goodman Brown meets the devil, and the devil wants to help Goodman Brown by giving the staff: “Sit here and rest yourself awhile; and when you feel like moving again, there is my staff to help you along,” (Page ). The devil’s staff is sculptured by a serpent or a large snake, which draws from the biblical symbol of the serpent as an evil genius. When the devil tells Goodman Brown to use the staff to travel faster, he takes the offer. Brown’s decision to come into the forest is incentivized by curiosity, as was Eve’s decision to eat the forbidden fruit. The staff makes clear that the old man is more evil than human and once Goodman Brown takes the staff for himself, he is on a path toward the evil side as