Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Story - Assignment Example

November 24, Hawthorne’s Brown Story Introduction The paper delves on the influence of Hawthorne’s Puritan religion on the story of Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown story. The Puritan religion was a protestant religion in England. The Sabbath concept of the Puritans prohibits playing sports on Sunday Sabbaths (Donato 317). Instead, the members are required to focus on worship or religious activities during the entire Sunday Sabbath day. The paper delves on the effect of religion on the Brown story outcome. Hawthorne’s Puritan upbringing influenced the novel plots. Hawthorne’s Novel Nathaniel Hawthorne based the intricacies of his popular 1935 novel on his New England community background and ancestry (Milder 47). Nathaniel Hawthorne is a puritan. The author feels that everyone in the small sleepy Salem community succumbed to the irresistible temptations of Satan. The story delves on the Goodman Brown feeling he is the only person who is not under Satan’s within Brown’s community. In the story, Brown successfully avoids being converted to the religious concepts of the forest-based witches Hawthorn (Hawthorne 25). 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. Thus, Brown decides detests the evil members of his home community (Milder 47). In order to reach heaven, Hawthorne insists that people must implement the strict provision of the Puritan religion at all times. However, Hawthorne teases the readers of the story. Hawthorne brings up the concept that the Brown’s forest escapade was only a dream (Hawthorne 33). The dream scene makes the readers believe that the forest scene was not real. Consequently, Brown’s doubting his religion’s teachings reflects Nathaniel Hawthorne’s questioning the morality or ethics of his own Salem-based Puritan religion. The forest witch scene explains to Brown that everyone in the community committed sin (Hawthorne 32). In Hawthorne’s Brown story, Brown insisted that all living persons within the community are Satan’s devout followers. Everyone in the town willingly committed sinful acts. The author depicts the forest story as a place of freedom. Within the confines of the forest, everyone is not bound by any religious constraints. The forest people are not required to comply with the cultural prohibitions, customs and traditions of the nearby town. In the forest crowd, Brown recognizes the woman who taught the Puritan religion concepts to Brown during his childhood days (Hawthorne 27). Further, the forest scene depicts of Brown’s home culture. Brown thinks that the first forest person he meets is Brown’s father (Hawthorne 27). Brown feels the same forest man’s staff resembles a snake. The staff seems to wiggle and move in the same manner as a real snake. In the forest, he sees his church Minister as well as Deacon Gookin. Within the forest environment, Brown likewise sees the ribbon of his wife, Faith (Person 42). Furthermore, Nathaniel Hawthorne observed during his Puritan life that the religion had some questionable doctrines. Hawthorne opined that the Puritan definition of evil is vague, leaving to many possible wrong interpretations among the people. Specifically, the Puritans do not agree on the different evil degrees as well as types. Instead of rightfully fixing or resolving a moral issue, the Puritan religion tries to remove the morality issue (Bloom 162). Moreover, Nathaniel Hawthorne observed that there were good doctrines in his Puritan religion (Bloom 162). One of the good doctrines is fortitude. Fortitude is described as the person’s capacity to being emotionally as being mentally strongly during a dangerous situation, when an enemy is encroaching and endangering the lives of the Puritan group members. Fortitude is useful in resolving fear of the unknown or unexpected. Fortitude is useful during times of temptation to do evil or violating the religious ethical doctrines of the Puritan members. Further, another doctrine is self –reliance. The doctrine shows the Puritan members have the capacity to rely on themselves to resolve any issue, problem or unfavorable situation. The members use their own individual capacities to implement diverse resolutions to a current event that needs a consequent response from the group members (Bloom 162). Furthermore, Hawthorne explains the importance of the above favorable Puritan Concepts of his Salem, Massachusetts community. The people of his group travelled to a new land, the current Massachusetts, United States community (Bloom 162). As immigrants to the new nation, they feared for their lives. They feared the attacks of the native Indians. They feared the attacks of witches. They feared the effects of nature, the elements, on the new Puritan arrivals. In order to survive the high odds stacked against their survival favor, the Puritans had to act as a group. The religious concepts of the Puritan religion required the members to act as one group during each event, situation, or problem. As a group, the Puritans stand a better chance of overcoming the approaching obstacles to living a peaceful community life. Hawthorne affirmed the Puritan religion beneficially resulted to the Puritan members’ survival. In order to ensure the survival of the Puritan group in a strange new land, the members of the Puritan group were required to compulsorily obey all the teachings or regulations of the Puritan religion (Bloom 162). Moreover, Bloom emphasized every human person must compulsorily encounter what Young Goodman Brown underwent (Bloom 162). Every individual must someday leave his or her comfort zone. The comfort zone may be one’s home, family, or community. Hawthorne left his England comfort zone to live in a strange new land, the current United States. One must travel into the complex and danger-lurking depths of one’s own forest. The forest represents an unfamiliar territory or situation. The forest may represent attending a new school, or transferring to a new city or state. In the strange environment of our time (typical of a dense unfamiliar forest), there is a possibility a street gang may rob, rape, or even murder the new arrival. When inside the person’s unfamiliar danger-lurking forest, strange unfamiliar environment or situation, the individual may dream of possible solutions to the real life situation. In the Young Goodman Brown story, Brown is depicted as dreaming (Hawthorne33). In the dream, Brown enters a strange forest. In the forest, Brown was able to attend a witch ceremony (Hawthorne 25). Hawthorne affirms that people often resolve their real life problems during their dream state, asleep. This is because the body is at rest during the sleep. During the sleep stage, there are no barriers to what one can do or do not do. There is no Puritan or societal impediments to implementing each individual’s diversely unique solution to a pressing real life problem (Milder 45). Further, Hawthorne insisted that Puritan religious concepts should be liberally interpreted. Hawthorne affirms that evil deeds must be avoided at all times. In terms of Hawthorne’s preference for conservatism, Hawthorne believed that the Puritan concepts of his forefathers should not be replaced by the current Puritan concepts of Hawthorne’s time period. Hawthorne assimilated the Christian concept of original sin as well as innate depravation. The Hawthorne’s Christian concepts specifically fall under the Calvinist religious concepts (Boonyaprasop 37). As a conservative Puritan, Hawthorne prefers the prior religious interpretations of the Puritan religion. Hawthorne espoused the return to the conservative Puritan religious concepts on life. Hawthorne’s religious preferred bring him back to the Puritan concepts of the 17th century or 18th century. Consequently, Hawthorne was often called the capital child of the old Puritan movement (Boonyaprasoop 7). Further, Hawthorne describes the current Puritan religion’s concepts of his time as a deviation from the prior conservative Puritan religion concepts. Hawthorne classified the current concepts as transcendental American Puritanism. The author insisted that the idealism of the current Puritan concepts has a false bottom. The falsity triggers the destruction of the human race’s morality and ethical performances. The story of Young Goodman Brown story indicates Brown’s entering into a religious transformation as he is brainwashed by the forest scene (Hawthorne 25). The story starts with Brown’s strong loyalty and faith in the teachings of his Puritan religion. As Brown enters the forest at dusk, Brown meets a person carrying a stick, which Brown firmly believes is his father. The person serves as Brown’s tourist guide through the labyrinth or maze of the deep forest environment. Furthermore, Brown later hears strange familiar voices. Brown feels that the forest guide awaiting Brown is the devil himself (Hawthorne 25). As Brown centers the forest’s religious ceremony, he hears the voice of the Puritan religion’s minister Goody Cloyse (Hawthorne 27). Brown also hears the audible voice of Deakon Gookin in the same religious ceremony (Hawthorne 27). The forest scene significantly breaks Brown down. Brown is no longer a loyal member of the Puritan Religion. Hearing the voice of his wife, Faith, in the thick community crowd, Brown affirms that the Devil had conquered the Puritan community of Brown’s time period. In the forest, Brown accidentally reaches an ongoing witch ceremony. The ceremony organizers invite Brown and his wife to attend the meeting (Hawthorne 32). Brown’s community members are active participants in the Witch ceremony. The community members enthusiastically welcome Brown and his wife to attend the Witch ceremony. The witch meeting symbolizes the evil-doing members of Brown’s community are enticing Brown and his wife to adhere to a sin-filled daily life (Piper 53). Brown cries that that his faith in the Puritan religion is gone (Hawthorne 30). Awaking from the dream, Brown is suspicious of everyone on the street (Hawthorne 33). Hawthorne affirms that Brown’s forest escapade was only a dream. Dreams always do not reflect real life situation. However, Brown feels the dream was real. Attending the Puritan religious Sabbath ceremony, Brown could not concentrate well to the entire proceedings. He had completely lost his faith in the religious proceedings. Evil thoughts kept Brown doubting about the church members’ succumbing to the evil enticements of the evil Satan. During the Sabbath Ceremony, Brown fears heaven will punish the evil-tainted Minister as he preaches the sacred truths or ethical standards of the Puritan religion (Hawthorne 33). Further, there is a strong probability that Hawthorne was disenchanted with some of the teachings of the Puritan religion concepts of his time period. The disenchantment led to the forest adventure of the Brown. The Brown forest scene is grounded on certain religious practices of his Salem Puritan community. During 1692 and 1693, witch trials were conducted publicly. The convicted witches were burned to death (Rollins 5). Conclusion Based on the above discussion, Hawthorne’s Puritan religion influenced the Brown novel scenes. The Protestant Puritan religion prohibits engaging in pleasure-based activities on Sundays. The forest travel of Brown had casted doubts on the Puritan members’ implementation of the Puritan standards. The story ends with Brown doubting the pure heart of the community members. Evidently, Hawthorne’s Puritan upbringing significantly influenced the different novel scenes. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Nathaniel Hawthorne . New York: Infobase Press, 2009. Boonyaprasoop, Marina. " A Forest Walk" The Concept o Nature in Hawthornes "Young Goodman Grown" and "The Scarlet Letter". Santa Cruz: Grin Verlag Press, 2012. Boonyaprasop, Marina. Hawthornes Wilderness: Nature and Puritanism. New York: Anchor Academic Press, 2013. Donato, Christopher. Perspectives on the Sabbath. Nashville: B & H Press, 2011. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories. New York: Courier Dover Press, 2012. Milder, Robert. Hawthornes Habitations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Person, Leland. The Cambridge Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Piper, Wendy. Misfits and Marble Fauns: Reliigion and Romance in Hwthorne and OConnor. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2011. Rollins, Peter. The Columbia Companion to American History on Film. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Read More