The main characters in Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" are Goodman Brown, his wife Faith and the stranger who accompanies Goodman Brown in the forest. At the beginning of the story Brown is bidding his wife, Faith farewell at their front door. Taking a lonely route into the forest, he meets an older man who bears a fatherly resemblance to both Brown and the Devil. Later that night Brown discovers to his amazement, that many exemplary villagers are on the same path including, Goody Cloyse, a pious old woman who once taught him his catechism, but who readily shows that she certainly knew the Devil and practiced witchcraft. With Brown still confident that he could turn back, his older companion departs, leaving behind his curiously snakelike staff and fully expecting that Brown would follow. Brown hides yet another time, but again to his surprise he again sees very God-fearing and respectful people such as the minister, and deacon of his church and even - to his horror - his wife, Faith. At this point, he yields to despair and sets forth to join in what is obviously a witches' Sabbath or Black Mass. Seconds later, Brown seems to find himself in the forest alone, shivering and confused. On Brown's return from his errand he finds that all seems apparently normal, but he cannot help shun his wife, who runs to meet him in the street, Goody Cloyse and the other good people. Brown's experience in the forest permanently blights his life. He scowls and mutters during prayers, suspects all the pious, recoils from his wife in bed at night and finally dies sad and without hope. Perhaps the most obviously recurrent symbol in "Young Goodman Brown" is the pink ribbons worn by Goodman's wife, Faith. T... ... middle of paper ... ...." American Notes and Queries, 20 (1982): 7-8. Connoly, Thomas E. American Literature, XXVIII, 370-75. Ellis, Robert. "Young Goodman Brown." Master Plots II. Ed. Frank Magill. 5 vols. New York: Salem Press, 1986. 5: 2737-40. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, Morton Berman, Willam Burto. 10th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1993. 74-85. Easterley, Joan Elizabeth. "Lachrymal imagery in Hawtorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'." Studies in Short Fiction, Summer91, Vol.28 Issue 3, p339, 5p. Shear, Walter. "Cultural fate and social freedom in three American short stories." Studies in Short Fiction, fall 92, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p543, 7p. Zanger, Jules. "Young Goodman Brown" and "A White Heron":Correspondences And illuminations. Papers on Language & Literature. Summer90, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p346, 12p.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown," in Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience, eds. Richard Abcarian, Marvin Klotz, Peter Richardson, 7th ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998), p.62.
“It must be understood that we cannot feed the people” (Kinealy Calamity 75). The mid 1800s in Ireland were characterized by extreme poverty, death, and emigration. The Great Potato Famine, also known as “The Great Hunger,” first hit in 1845; however, its effects lasted into the 1850s and can still be seen today. Prior to the famine, Irish manufacture and trade was controlled and suppressed by British government, which made Ireland an extremely poor country. Farmers in Ireland were forced to export crops such as corn, wheat, and oats to Britain, which left the potato as the main dietary staple for the people, especially the poor. Therefore, when the fungus Phytophthora infestans caused some, and eventually all, of the crop to rot over the next couple of years, the reliance on the one crop made the people of Ireland extremely susceptible to the famine. The effects were devastating, and poverty spread across the nation causing a huge increase in homelessness, the death-rate, emigration, and a change in the Irish people and country overall.
The names of the characters Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith are both symbolic. “Young" infers the title character is naive and new at life. Brown’s youth suggests that he is an uncorrupted and innocent young man. Moreover, "Goodman" suggests his self-righteousness thinking he is a good man. Furthermore, "Brown" indicates he is a commoner. Thus, the full name implies he is the average naive and self-righteous Puritan. Faith’s name in the story represents his need to cling to faith. She symbolizes everything that is good and Christian to Goodman Brown. Brown’s marriage to Faith is symbolic of how he clings to faith in good in the world.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 268-276.
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.
Hawthorn, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown" The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. I. Shorter Seventh Edition. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2008. 620-629. Print.
In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of a man and his discovery of evil. Hawthorne’s primary concern is with evil and how it affects Young Goodman Brown. Through the use of tone and setting, Hawthorne portrays the nature of evil and the psychological effects it can have on man. He shows how discovering the existence of evil brings Brown to view the world in a cynical way. Brown learns the nature of evil and, therefore, feels surrounded by its presence constantly.
Many Irish peasants were forced to deal with the hardship of the Irish potato famine from about 1845-1850. Said famine wiped out roughly the entire potato crop in Ireland, thus causing much of the Irish population to decrease by about one quarter. The English who did little to help despite their leadership position indirectly fueled the famine. Prior conflicts between the Irish Catholics, and British Protestants continued to make matters worse, until the end of the famine in about 1850. During 1845, the Irish people were plagued by a fungal epidemic in their potato crop. Due to the past cultural conflicts the British government took no action, and this eventually led to the emigration and death of hundreds of Irish Catholics.
In the ancient ruins of Peru and Chile, archaeologists have found potato remains that date back to 500 B.C. The Incas grew, ate, and worshipped the potatoes. Also, the Incas would bury the potatoes with their dead. The Incan potatoes had purplish skins and yellow flesh. The Incas called them papas like some people still do today.
I believe the results of this survey to be accurate as the survey was conducted in a fair and professional manner. However, I also discovered how easy it can be to manipulate the data and the opinions of participants to favor a single viewpoint. Surveys are an important method of gathering, summarizing and presenting large amounts of data. However, when relying on polls to form opinions or make decisions, people should consider the source, look for any conflicts of interest, contemplate other avenues of information and draw their own conclusions.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." 1835. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Lexington: Heath, 1944. 2129-38.
Throughout Irish history, its people have been the victims of famine under English rule. Like a boxer with both arms tied behind his back, the Irish could only stand and absorb blow after blow and while it took many circumstances of British and Irish policy to create the knockout punch in 1845, it is clear the social and land divisions as well and economic structures inevitably led to the devastation of the Great Famine.
Mossman, M. Representations of the Abnormal Body in 'The Moonstone'. USA: Cambridge University Press.2009. Print.
The great famine of Ireland began around the year of 1845, when a deadly fungus reached the crops, leaving thousands of acres of land filled with black rot, and diseased crops (Szabo). This disease has become commonly known as the blight. The blight was a “mysterious disease” that “almost universally affected the potatoes on the island” (Kinealy 31). This suspicious “blight” had traveled to Europe from North America, affecting mostly Ireland (Bloy). The blight turned the potatoes black, making them deadly for people to eat. Problems with agriculture came to an all-time high during the famine (Foster 201), and the crop most affected by this blight was the potatoes. The cause of the potato disease was suspected to be due to many factors such as: frost, winds, moon, manure, or thunderstorms; however, the trouble was actually due to an unknown fungus (phytophthora infestans) which caused mould on the potatoes (Kee 78). The Irish had experienced blights before this, but did not cause famine; this was the first case of phytopthora infestans (Poirteir 9). The blight was a major cause of the great famine, however; many other factors attributed to the tragedy that would forever change the great country of Ireland. The geography and history of Ireland had left many of the people dependent for survival on cultivation, specifically reliant on one main crop (Kee 78). This was the potato. When the crop had been introduced to the country, the Irish loved it for numerous reasons. Their land was perfect for growing potatoes; the potatoes flourished in the rich, Irish soil. In addition, they were easy to prepare and cook, very nutritious, and extremely abundant. This caused the potato to be the “staple food” f...
Ireland had over eight million people during the mid-19th century. They were heavily reliant on agriculture and many of the Irish people were impoverished and living in poor conditions. The Irish were considered some of the poorest people of the west. They had a low literacy rate, low life expectancy rates, and although Ireland was an agricultural nation, they were generally low income. Because they could not afford anything else, the Irish were very dependent on potatoes. The potato was a cheap source of protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins that were suitable for survival. The substantial reliance on potatoes was one of the main reasons the famine was as destructive as it was. It started in the summer of 1845, when the blight was first discovered. It sickened all of Ireland’s potato crop and the vast majority of the Irish people depended solely on potatoes. Hayden describes it as “simply the most violent episode in a history characterised by violence of every conceivable kind, the inevitable con...