The Man In The Black Suit Analysis

Life is full of unfortunate circumstances; terrible episodes happen to people every day whether they are pious, unpleasant, or indifferent. Those individuals, then have to choose whether to come to terms with the ordeal, or ignore it completely. In the selections, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “The Man in the Black Suit” by Steven King, both protagonists face traumatic experiences that affect their lives, and they are forced to cope with it. There are times in people’s lives when a terrible event happens, and because they are so unwilling to face it, they cope in an unhealthy manner. They do not know any other way to process what they are feeling, so they ignore it. Because people are either unwilling or unable to deal with

People often suppress traumatic experiences to avoid them, or to stop the realization that what happened was real. For example, in “The Man in the Black Suit,” Gary’s brother dies horribly in a freak accident while playing in the field. He is stung by a bee, something that has happened to Gary multiple times, and the boy is forced to watch his father carry his brother’s lifeless body back to the house. He has nightmares about it, but he never speaks of it. He blames himself, survivor’s guilt. Gary believes his brother was innocent, and did not deserve to die. Later, after Gary narrowly escapes from the devil, he tells no one of it until he is on his deathbed. Even then, he writes it down for his family to find after he passes on. Gary is completely unwilling to tell anyone about his encounter with the devil during his childhood. He suppresses his experience and distracts himself throughout his life. Often people do not want to think

Eventually the problem will force its way into the light and someone will have to confront it, because there is no other option. One example is in “Young Goodman Brown.” He wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of the people in his town. Brown no longer participated in any of the Church services, which society revolved around as a Puritan, all he heard was sin. He pulled away from his family and scowled during prayer. He withdrew almost completely from society, and by the time he died, the villagers could put no verse on his headstone because he was so dour. When people pull away, they risk losing their loved ones and their friends. They isolate themselves, and others just move on with their lives. Another example is in “The Man in the Black Suit.” Gary represses all of his interactions with the devil until he is literally on his deathbed. He can no longer run away from the inevitable, and he is scared. He is hit with the truth, and must face it. Often when people avoid the issue at hand, it will come back to bite them. They are forced to deal with the issue, and are unprepared because they have avoided it for so