StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story set in the 17th century Puritan New England when a lot of emphasis was on innocence and purity in the face of the Puritan beliefs that the society of Mankind was very condemned to a sinful, irredeemable state. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.8% of users find it useful
Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil"

Download file to see previous pages

The puritan beliefs that man was inherently sinful tend to be biased against society in favor of their own self-righteousness out of grace. Through the story of Goodman, Hawthorne criticizes the hypocrisy of the Puritan liturgy by creatively designing Goodman’s journey to self-discovery through personal reevaluation that ultimately ends in the loss of his own faith. Goodman as the protagonist of the story is a universal character, typical of every other man in the universe (Hawthorne 561). This story is strikingly a dark romance story in the period of American Romanticism because it depicts sad and dark events; moreover, in this story, Hawthorne deals with the theme of Good and Evil as two opposing forces in society.

The basic argument is that man is constantly faced with the internal conflict about his personal belief, and this is because of the struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Hawthorne affirmatively states that the forces of evil are so strong that one is more likely to stray from the path of righteousness to the path of evil and darkness. Man being inherently sinful, he has to defeat evil by remaining steadfast in his faith, but this is not often easy as we see through Goodman’s woes that lead to him losing his faith; he encounters the devil who is in his own resemblance (Hawthorne 554).

The major characters of this story have been given names that suggest a deeper meaning than the surface one, in a deliberate fashion that supports the theme of Good and evil. Goodman for instance points out that the said character is a good man, pure in actions and free from evil. As such, Goodman appeals to the reader as a sympathetic character who has fallen victim of circumstances; Faith on the other hand metaphorically represents his religious beliefs, through which he hopes to attain eternal life.

 He believes in her earthly purity and innocence and later in the story, it emerges that she also represents his personal faith. It is faith that keeps Goodman from indulging in evil; this is captured aptly through Goodman’s encounter with the devil in the forest where he excuses his lateness by the delay caused by his wife Faith. This highlights his internal conflict that is informed by man's general predisposition to evil, and his religious beliefs that prohibit him from freely doing evil.

Once Goodman learns that his wife is lost, his personal faith is lost too, and Goodman is totally lost from the righteous path. Apart from the Characters, the setting of the story has been used to highlight the theme of Good and evil in a manner that evokes greater significance in the plot of the story; thus, Hawthorne’s choice of a dense forest setting was purposeful and not merely coincidental. Forests have largely been associated with darkness and dangerous malevolence that could befall any unsuspecting person.

Goodman alludes to this myth when he gets a notion that there could be evil behind every tree in the forest waiting to attack an innocent individual. In this regard, the forest setting symbolizes evil in its pure form with its deep secrets and darkness that portents mystery. By agreeing to walk in the forest, Goodman starts being compromised in his whole being as he begins to doubt his beliefs in the knowledge he already had about his forbiddance from the forest area. Goodman’s gradual walk deeper into the forest metaphorically represents his gradual straying from good to evil.

Deeper into the forest, there is dense darkness that totally blinds Goodman’s eyesight thus highlighting the fact that his morality is getting darker and darker by the moment as he continues to walk in the fo

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1463430-young-goodman-brown-theme-of-your-choice-or-good
(Young Goodman Brown. Theme of Your Choice of Good and Evil Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/english/1463430-young-goodman-brown-theme-of-your-choice-or-good.
“Young Goodman Brown. Theme of Your Choice of Good and Evil Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1463430-young-goodman-brown-theme-of-your-choice-or-good.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil

Culture and Religion

The episode's far-reaching ramifications are dealt in three classic works: I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, a novel by Maryse Conde, The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, and young goodman brown, a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.... There is always an association between forests and evil because of its dark and gloomy nature.... The minister and the deacon are also corrupt and evil.... All of them attempt to comment earnestly and staunchly on the hypocrisy and social stigmas; class, ethnic and racial distinctions that draw the fine line between the privileged and under-privileged, through the literary devices like theme, characterization, symbolism....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Characterization and Symbolism

In his short story “young goodman brown, Hawthorne speaks about search for truth and morality, a conflict between sin, evil and faith.... Thesis In this short… ry, Hawthorne uses unique symbols and elements of characterization which help the author to describe the main characters and create unique atmosphere and settings. Hawthorne uses symbolic names for the main characters, Faith and goodman brown, which attracts readers' Hawthorne writes “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to goodman brown” (Hawthorne)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Young Goodman Brown

Caught in the quagmire between good and evil, it is time for Young Goodman Brown to decide whether he is to adopt the evil ways that his community has adopted in secret or rebel against sin and evil for all that he is worth (Cook, 1970).... This essay delves into the significance and meaning of the night's journey that is part of the tale of young goodman brown.... young goodman brown is accosted almost at the very beginning of his dream by the Devil who surprises him with facts that he is well acquainted with Brown's ancestors and has helped his grandfather and father commit nefarious acts in their day as well....
7 Pages (1750 words) Annotated Bibliography

Setting in Young Goodman Brown

It is important to note that the village setting is important in reinforcing the familiarity of Goodman Nathaniel Hawthorne therefore uses the location, time period and the physical structures settings to reinforce his themes in “young goodman brown”.... Hawthorne's short story “young goodman brown's setting also helps in reinforcing the theme of weakness of public morality.... The forest setting in the second part of the story reinforces the theme of wilderness and evil (Hurley, 410)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

The Prerequisites for Symbolism Literary Movement and Its Fruits

Nathaniel Hawthorne's “young goodman brown”, (1835) is a typical short story that is a perfect example of how a short story can be expressively symbolic.... nbsp;… goodman brown is a good man but tempted by forces of sin, may be out of curiosity.... he protagonist of the story the goodman brown and yet another main character of the story, Faith his wife, are themselves symbolic representations.... cried goodman brown....
9 Pages (2250 words) Assignment

Young Goodman Brown

The author of the given paper states that “young goodman brown” is an allegory of the fall of man, in which Hawthorne portrays the story of a man, a Puritan Faust, who is tempted by the Devil and succumbs because of his curiosity and weakness of his faith, which he perceived to be impenetrable.... The beginning of this tragic journey is marked immediately by fear of the wilderness, a dark and evil place where no good takes place.... By including these historical references, he does not let the reader forget the dubious history of Salem and the legacy of Puritans, and he also accentuates the historical roots of goodman brown's fascination with the Devil and the dark side that so lusciously leads him into the forest, despite him being fully aware of the fact that he is on an evil endeavor....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The paper analyzes the symbolism which is used to depict Goodman's experience in and out of the forest enhancing the understanding of the concept of good and evil.... The story of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a piece of work that depicts the aspects of good and evil.... The main character, Goodman, is a symbol that depicts a man who knows how to do good and has the capability to do good, but ironically the symbol reveals that it is good people who end up committing evil....
8 Pages (2000 words) Book Report/Review

Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Story

The paper “Hawthorne's young goodman brown Story” delves on the influence of Hawthorne's Puritan religion on the story of Hawthorne's young goodman brown story.... The story delves into the goodman brown feeling he is the only person who is not under Satan's within Brown's community.... Arriving home from the forest scene, Brown feels all the community residents are tainted with performing evil deeds.... Consequently, Brown dislikes the company of evil-stained Faith, his pregnant wife, and other evil-tainted members of Brown's community....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us