Young Goodman Brown - Interpretive Differences
Young Goodman Brown, universally acclaimed as one of Hawthorne's best short stories, presents the student searching out its meaning with not only several possibilities but several rather ambiguous ones. D. M. McKeithan, in an article entitled " 'Young Goodman Brown': An Interpretation" (Modern Language Notes, 67 [1952], 93), has listed the suggestions that have been advanced as "the theme" of the story: "the reality of sin, the pervasiveness of evil, the secret sin and hypocrisy of all persons, the hypocrisy of Puritanism, the results of doubt or disbelief, the devastating effects of moral scepticism . . . the demoralizing effects of the discovery that all men are sinners and hypocrites." Admittedly, these themes are not as diverse as they might at first appear. They are, with the possible exception of the one specifically mentioning Puritanism, quite closely related. But meaning is not restricted to theme, and there are other ambivalences in the story that make its meanings both rich and elusive. After taking into account some matters of text and genre, we shall look at "Young Goodman Brown" from our traditional approaches.
Textually, "Young Goodman Brown," first published in 1835 in the New England Magazine, presents relatively few problems. Obsolete words in the story like "wot'st" (know), "Goody" (Goodwife, or Mrs.), "Goodman" (Mr.) are defined in most desk dictionaries, and none of the other words has undergone radical semantic change. Nevertheless, as we have seen, although a literary work may have been written in a day when printing had reached a high degree of accuracy, a perfect text is by no means a foregone conclusion. With Hawthorne, as with other authors, scholars are constantly working on more accurate texts.
For example, the first edition of this handbook used a version of "Young Goodman Brown" that contained at least two substantive variants. About three-fourths of the way through the story the phrase "unconcerted wilderness" appeared. David Levin, in an article entitled "Shadows of Doubt: Specter Evidence in Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'" (American Literature, 34 [November 1962], 346, n.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is a nineteenth-century American writer of the Romantic Movement. Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts, and this is the place he used as the setting for some of his works: such as "The Scarlett Letter", "the Blithedale Romance" and "Young Goodman Brown". In writing, Hawthorne was known for his use of allegory and symbolism, which made his stories a joy for everyone to read. Hawthorne was said to be the first American writer who was conscious of the failure of modern man to realize his full capacity for moral growth. His stories contain much about the life he knew as a child being brought up in a Puritan society. As Hawthorne's writing continued it was filled with the same amount of sin and evil as his first writings. Evil that was revealed through his works. "Young Goodman Brown" was said to be one of the best stories ever written by Hawthorne (Adams70). "The Marble Faun: and "the Scarlett Letter were some of the other stories written by Hawthorne, and they were said to be "Young Goodman Brown" grown older. In this selection there is a question of maturity for Goodman Brown and whether he is good or evil. There is also a transition from childishness to adolescence to maturity. This short story in particular has a feeling of adultery, betrayal, and deception as in some of his other works. It was said by Richard P. Adams that "young Goodman Brown" was a germ for nearly all his best work that followed (Adams 71).
McCabe, Michael E. “The Consequences of Puritan Depravity and Distrust as Historical Context for Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”.”
In 1835, Nathaniel Hawthorne published the tale of “Young Goodman Brown,” a tale that illustrates many configurations of symbolism used to leave the reader planting the pieces together through his characteristics of detail and imagery. Hawthorne’s prime analogy expressed throughout this tale is the loss of vulnerability and pureness when reaching maturity.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories, like many Romantic stories, the characters are ordinary people with superstitious beliefs. In "Young Goodman Brown," Goodman Brown is an everyday Salem citizen. He faces many of the problems tackled by other New England Puritans. He has a lapse in faith and is ...
However, not all counterculture movements have failed. Perhaps the three most cited examples of counterculture making a more than negligible impact are the rise of rock and roll music and electric guitars in the early fifties; the hippie, anti-war and free love movements of the late sixties; and the rise of grunge music, along with the attitude of rebellion and freedom of youth in the early nineties. These three movements were anything but failures: they all gave rise to icons – the Elvis Presleys, the Jimi Hendrixes, the Kurt Cobains – who are still revered today; and they all had a transformative impact on society, garnering mass media attention, massive followings, perhaps even bringing change among the masses, and creating ripples which emanated throughout society for years afterwards.
Religious influence has always been part of the American Government since the beginning. Even in the earliest history of the creation of our Government with the Declaration of Independence God is mentioned in the first paragraph. Though religion over the past two centuries has proven to be an influence on the United States government the influence has a relatively good standing. Religious influence in State and law has been a medium in the beginning of the governmental system but still set influence. The influence though pertained to the religion and idealism of the individuals carrying it ...
In the story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne there is symbolism all throughout the story. Symbolism can be defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Hawthorne uses symbolism to describe a young man who reluctantly leaves his world of innocence and realizes that evil and darkness is in his world.
Organizations’ other resources can be hired, retained and discarded at any time but human resources needs special treatment. It needs to be carefully hired, deserve an extra effort to retain it and requires training & development to upgrade and improve its capabilities. Other resources depreciate with the passage of time but when the human resource gains more and more experience, it becomes more beneficial for the organizations. These characteristics have brought human resources to be the central element for the success of an organization. (Mohammed, Bhatti, Jariko, and Zehri, 2013, pg. 129, para. 2)
..., Tager- Flusberg, H.,& Lainhart, J. E. (2006). Comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with autism: Interview development and rates of disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 36(7), 849-861.
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.
In order to grasp the allegory Hawthorne uses in Young Goodman Brown, the story needs to be considered in a way that recognizes the blending of its historical background at the time of the Salem Witch trials and its relationship to religious symbolism within that perspective. By understanding the Puritan beliefs about sin, the forest and their own inherent faith, it becomes easier for the reader to understand the deeper meaning of Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest.
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne provides the reader with a unique insight into the lives of people in an early Puritan community. By the use of psychological and formal analysis, we capture a deeper sense of the story of a young man's struggle between his undeniable desires and his morality.
The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate the types of characters present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.
During the course of Edmund Spencer’s Amoretti, the “Petrarchan beloved certainly underwent a transformation” (Lever 98); the speaker depicts the beloved as merciless and is not content with being an “unrequited lover” (Roche 1) as present in a Petrarchan sonnet. Throughout Sonnet 37 and Sonnet 54, the speaker provides insight into the beloved not seen within the Petrarchan sonnets; though the speaker does present his uncontrollable love for the beloved, he does so through his dissatisfaction with his position and lack of control. In Sonnet 37, the speaker describes the beloved as an enchantress who artfully captures the lover in her “golden snare” (Spencer, 6) and attempts to warn men of the beloved’s nature. Sonnet 54, the speaker is anguished by the beloved’s ignorance towards his pain and finally denies her humanity. Spencer allows the speaker to display the adversarial nature of his relationship with the beloved through the speaker’s negative description of the beloved, the presentation of hope of escaping from this love, and his discontent with his powerlessness. Spencer presents a power struggle and inverted gender roles between the lover and the beloved causing ultimate frustration for the speaker during his fight for control.
In my project I attempted to write without the assistance of normal technologies that are often taken for granted. It proved a difficult undertaking. Before beginning to write I had to find something to write on. As I searched my house and yard I realized that technology-free materials are difficult to find. I eventually found a birch log by the fireplace, which was once used by Native Americans for the purpose of writing. After tearing off the bark, and shaking off the dirt I had my “paper.” The hardest part was still not over; I needed to find a replacement for the normal writing aid of a pencil or pen. I replaced ink with honey and traded a pen for a feather. My next step was the very slow process of streaking honey on the bark to form words. The honey was the same color as the birch and blended in with the wood. To f...