Barn Burning and young goodman brown - Essay Example

A Comparison between “Barn Burning” and “Young Good Man Brown” Barn Burning is a story that opens in a certain country store where a young boy named Sarty is hungry for cheese and meat in the store but he is very afraid since his father, Abner Snopes is accused of burning down Mr. Harris barn. When Sarty is called to testify in court concerning his father’s case he becomes very scared and he knows very well that he had to lie to the court. The court realized that they were giving the boy too much burden and they let go of him go on the advice of a judge who also tells Mr.

Snopes to leave the country (Skei & William 5). In Young Good Man Brown, the author describes a young man who losses his innocence because of his corrupt ideals, a trait that suggests that whether the events that took place in the forest were just but a dream or the reality the innocence that he lost was something that was inevitable (Hawthorne 14). In both stories symbolism has been used successfully as in the case of the Young Good Man Brown, in which the use of the devil’s staff derives the symbol from the bible where the serpent is likened to the devil.

The devil tempts Good Man to use the staff in order to travel quickly only to lose his well guarded innocence. The ribbons that faith puts in her cap are a symbol of her purity, especially since the color pink is associated with innocence. In the Barn Burning, fire is an important symbol where Abner builds it on the night their family sets in the village (Skei & William 5).The difference between the two stories is that in Young Good Man brown the story revolves around a man who is tempted by the devil and ends up losing his innocence and his faith is shattered when he believes that he heard the voice of his beloved Faith only to realize that she was not the one.

In the Barn Burning, the story revolves around a family that had to move away and settle elsewhere to avoid being convicted after the father burns down the burn (Hawthorne 16).Works citedHawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2005. Print.Skei, Hans H., and William Faulkner. Reading Faulkners Best Short Stories. Columbia, SC: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1999. Print.