Essay On Symbolism In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown: Symbolism
In “Young Goodman Brown”, a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the subject of confliction towards good and evil is constantly brought up initiating tension and a feeling of mysteriousness to the reader. The theme of evil vs. good is raised through symbols like faith and the dark dreary woods, which in turn creates a suspenseful mood throughout the story allowing the audience to question the validity of witchcraft.
Goodman Brown starts out as a man with strong faith before he sets out to venture in the woods. Hawthorne wittingly uses Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, as a symbol to Goodman’s own faith throughout the story. Goodman’s good faith towards his wife is expressed early in the story when he says, “My love and my Faith” (276) as a reply to his wife’s anxiety. Although Goodman is referring to his wife’s name, it is also an implication of his own faith. His wife is portrayed as a …show more content…
The woods, in this case, symbolize Goodman’s fear of the validity of witchcraft and the embodiment of his suspicions and dark feelings he has towards things he never thought about before. Each time he is exposed to something he did not expect, he loses a bit more of his faith. When he “sat himself on the stump of a tree, and refused to go any further” (281), it is a clear indication to the audience that he is starting to lose his faith to the evil woods. In a way, the woods symbolize the outside world –a dark place where lies and disappointments of all sorts take over. When he cries, “My faith is lost!” (283), after he sees his wife in the woods, Hawthorne is suggesting that Goodman indeed has lost his wife, Faith, to the devils, and has also literally lost his own faith towards her and himself. Goodman now believes that his wife’s innocence and pureness was all a lie –that the world is full of evil and his faith is completely
In “Young Goodman Brown”, a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the subject of confliction towards good and evil is constantly brought up initiating tension and a feeling of mysteriousness to the reader. The theme of evil vs. good is raised through symbols like faith and the dark dreary woods, which in turn creates a suspenseful mood throughout the story allowing the audience to question the validity of witchcraft.
Goodman Brown starts out as a man with strong faith before he sets out to venture in the woods. Hawthorne wittingly uses Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, as a symbol to Goodman’s own faith throughout the story. Goodman’s good faith towards his wife is expressed early in the story when he says, “My love and my Faith” (276) as a reply to his wife’s anxiety. Although Goodman is referring to his wife’s name, it is also an implication of his own faith. His wife is portrayed as a …show more content…
The woods, in this case, symbolize Goodman’s fear of the validity of witchcraft and the embodiment of his suspicions and dark feelings he has towards things he never thought about before. Each time he is exposed to something he did not expect, he loses a bit more of his faith. When he “sat himself on the stump of a tree, and refused to go any further” (281), it is a clear indication to the audience that he is starting to lose his faith to the evil woods. In a way, the woods symbolize the outside world –a dark place where lies and disappointments of all sorts take over. When he cries, “My faith is lost!” (283), after he sees his wife in the woods, Hawthorne is suggesting that Goodman indeed has lost his wife, Faith, to the devils, and has also literally lost his own faith towards her and himself. Goodman now believes that his wife’s innocence and pureness was all a lie –that the world is full of evil and his faith is completely