Analysis Of Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† Hawthorne presents the tale of a young man from Salem, Massachusetts during colonial America. One night, Brown accidentally witnesses a witches meeting in the forest where he sees the rest of the town, including his wife Faith, in attendance. This comes as quite a shock to Brown and the next morning but he cannot remember whether or not the scene was real of simply a dream. Regardless, from then on Brown lives his life in opposition to the rest of the town. Although it may seem that the meaning of the story comes simply from an evaluation of Brown himself, and the actions he takes against the towns people, more needs to be done to fully comprehend the totality of Hawthorne’s†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Lies, self-righteousness, and gullibility can degrade a society† (Reynolds 53). Among the most blamed individuals during this time is Cotton Mather, author of The Wonders of the Invisi ble World, which is a detailed description of the accused witches of the Salem. There is evidence to believe that Hawthorne based much of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† after the lives and writings of the Mather family. It seems that the Mathers, in their writings and sermons, caused an unwarranted worry of witchcraft among the Puritans. â€Å"The Salem witchcraft crisis was clearly inseparable from the figure of Cotton Mather in Hawthorne’s imagination† (Ronan 261). The workings of the Mather family, especially Cotton Mather, are categorized as simply lies given to the people of Salem; unfortunately, those individuals found truth in the words of the Mathers and believed in the witchcraft. This quickly formed gullibility can be shown through the opinions formed by Brown in the end. As mentioned earlier, Hawthorne accused the sudden obsession with witches and their evil deeds to the fact that many people believed any information given to them from the judges or ministers. This fact is mirrored in the actions taken by Brown the morning after the night in the forest. Brown has no recollection of whether or not the meeting actually happened, but regardless of this, he decides to assume that all the towns people are connected with the Devil and witchcraft. â€Å"AShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Novel Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay1679 Words   |  7 Pageseasily fearful. The fear that can overwrite a person’s mind can be found in the short story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this particular story, the author uses a relatively fair amount of allegory, imagery, and symbolism to bring the story to life and make us imagine the disturbed mentality of those who lived during the Salem Witchcraft Trials. T o the stories like â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† are still being reviewed and criticized by those who study his work, including those thatRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown 1474 Words   |  6 Pages The works of Nathaniel Hawthorne deal with dark themes and are considered to be the first works of gothic romanticism. While these stories do deal with strong dark elements, these works are also heavily inspired by Puritanism and the Puritan colony at Plymouth. To begin with, the short story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† has strong themes of faith. The story is about a man by the name of Brown and his wife Faith. Brown walks into the forest against Faith’s wishes and meets an old man and the two walk deeperRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown 1102 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is a story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. This was the period around the crazy incidents of the Salem Witch Trials. This piece is covered with topics that can be described as having alternative meanings. Through the symbolism in the story, the audience is able to make ties between the old relationships Goodman Brown had with the other townspeople. The series of event in the story bring him to believe that his entire life was a lie and no one was worthy of his trustRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne1091 Words   |  5 Pagesparticularly applies to mus icians, artists and writers, since they are also humans, but better at expressing themselves. The short story my group and I did was â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A vast majority of Hawthorne’s work is based during the Puritan era. In the short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† the protagonist quests into the forest for a higher truth. While in the forest, he encounters many bizarre acquaintances. At last he is faced with a group of devil worshippersRead MoreAnalysis Of The Novel Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne879 Words   |  4 PagesIn the story † Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author demonstrates the ideas of the dual nature of man, which represented by the character Goodman Brown. He is a religious man who left his wife; Faith, behind to travel into the wood where a devil ceremony is takes place. The allegory of the story is that the innocence of a man can easily be corrupted if that person is not truly believes in his religion. Although, Goodman Brown is innocent, he also a devil himself by following devilRead More Psychological Analysis of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne1495 Words   |  6 Pagespsychologist and psychoanalyst, published his works, Young Goodman Brown almost explicitly illustrates how Freudian psychology works. A lot of aspects of psychology are depicted in this short story. One of the questions that one might ask is whether the experience of Goodman Brown was merely a dream or a reality. I would say that that is only a dream, based on the clues found in the text. At the first part, the scene when the couple parted, Goodman Brown said, â€Å"†¦she talks of dreams, too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This meansRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown 1471 Words   |  6 Pages29 September 2015 Testing Faith In the allegorical short story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses suspense and mystery to keep the reader interested. Throughout the story, Hawthorne makes the reader wonder what all the witchcraft, mysticism, and the double-sided lifestyles of the characters really means. Young Goodman Brown may be suspenseful, but the reader also has to look at it from a symbolic point of view. Hawthorne shows that a strong faith can basically make or break a man orRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne1822 Words   |  8 PagesLiterary analyzes of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a normal man that ventures into the forest to meet an old man who attempts to tempt him into going deeper into the woods to worship the devil. After the old man convinces him that everyone that he loves and respects is going to the devil’s ceremony he gives in. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, Hawthorne effectively uses symbolism to portray the theme that putting one s faith in others leads to weaknessRead MoreAnalysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s `` Young Goodman Brown `` And `` The Yellow Wallpaper ``2005 Words   |  9 Pagesfor a change in their respective eras and cultures. In three particular short stories, namely Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, â€Å"A New England Nun† by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and lastly Charlotte Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, each individual author speaks out against the established norms of their time in search f or moral change. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, he addresses the value of the intense religious culture of that early American time period andRead MoreStory Analysis: Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne697 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the short story of Goodman Brown and how the choices he makes shake his faith and change the person he is. In the story, Goodman Brown is intent on setting out on a nighttime journey in lieu of staying home with his wife of three months, Faith. Through the decisions that he makes, Goodman Brown not only loses connection with his wife, but also loses his faith in humanity. As such, Goodman Browns exclamation of My Faith is gone ¦There is no good