Preview

Young Goodman Brown Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1048 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Young Goodman Brown Analysis
Analysis of Fiction: “Young Goodman Brown” By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

The short story “Young Goodman Brown,” follows the dream of a Puritan man in Salem. In the dream, Goodman Brown comes face to face with the devil who shows him the real evil in man. Throughout the story, Goodman Brown is put to the test in his own faith and must try to overcome evil. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses actions, objects and people from the story as a meaning that lies outside the story itself. There are symbols in the story to help reveal the many themes to the reader. The largest symbolic roles in the story are the characters’ names, “Goodman Brown” and his wife “Faith”. Both of the characters ' names are symbolic and resemble their personalities. Goodman Brown truly is a man of God and resists temptation against evil. Goodman brown cried, “‘With Heaven above and Faith below, I will stand firm against the devil”(269). His strength of character shows how the name “Goodman” relates to his personality of himself and his faith in God. As the story begins, Goodman Brown says goodbye to his wife, Faith, before going on his long journey. As Hawthorne writes, “Faith as the wife [is] aptly named,” (264) gives the reader a certain clue that she too, has a name that fits appropriately and reveals her true nature. Hawthorne writes, “[She] 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”(264). The pink ribbons that Faith is wearing also symbolize purity and faith. When saying goodbye to his wife, it also means that he is saying goodbye to his own faith. The theme that is shown through Faith’s character is that the truth is always questionable. Goodman Brown is questioning his own faith even though he has been practicing his religion his whole life. In addition, faith is believing even when one is put to the highest possible test. Goodman Brown was put to the test of faith



Cited: Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, Kelly J. Mayes. New York: W.W Norton & Company. 2005. 264-273.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the village of Salem there is man, Goodman Brown, who is a Christian. He meets a man in the woods, who eerily seems to be expecting Goodman. When the two encounter a woman in the woods, the man is identified by her to be the Devil himself, and her a witch. He also hears the minister and deacon of his church going to the Devil’s ceremony, along with the witch. Goodman thinks that while everyone else is turning to the Devil, he must stay true to God. As the story progresses more, Goodman hears his wife Faith’s voice at the ceremony, which pushes him over the edge and he uses the Devil’s staff to go to the ceremony. Throughout this story, Hawthorne wraps pieces of Romanticism into the plot. There are elements of nature, solitude, and innocence. They help the overall theme of the story emerge because they build up the setting and path for Goodman’s loss of his innocence.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goodman Brown is a faithful Christian until he begins to go on a journey to find his spiritual path. We are lead to believe that he arranges a meeting with the devil, by the devil later stating that Goodman is late. His wife, Faith, also a metaphor for his relationship with God test him and keeps him back from his journey for a small time.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Young Goodman Brown, is a gothic short story written in the setting of Puritan New England, about the struggle a young “Goodman” by the name of Brown and the fight to maintain his innocence’s as he embarks on a journey through the forest with an elder man who symbolizes to be the devil himself. Nathaniel…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most significant symbols in his story include the names representing the characters, young goodman Brown, and his wife, Faith. Both represent their given names, but also symbolizes the moral belief young goodman Brown holds in his heart.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all if you break down his name it literally states that he is a young good-man. Young Goodman Brown symbolizes the innocence of people being challenged by the devil’s malicious sins. Young Goodman Brown can also be seen as to symbolize people’s thoughts or ideas on evil. He does not want to take the path because he is scared and is not willing to surrender himself to the devil.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some people read stories and see them all completely different with all completely different meanings. In a way that is correct, they are all different, however; though this analysis it will be shown that“The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” are very similar through different literary elements of fiction. In “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown,” authors Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne employ point of view, setting and conflict to show similarities between these two very different stories.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” uses symbolism and allegory to show that people inevitably surrender to the darkness inside of them even if their initial intentions are pure. Hawthorne describes Goodman Brown as a religious man who is drawn towards sin and darkness soon after his marriage. Goodman Brown enters the forest that signifies sin, but resists temptations to join the devil until he finally loses his faith and gives in to evil. Symbolism and allegory are used in the story to help the reader learn about how Brown loses faith in his Puritan society and distrusts the innocence of society.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his short story, 'Young Goodman Brown', generates a relationship in direct contrast with that of a true romance among the roles of Faith and Young Goodman Brown. Whereas, a…

    • 576 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story is a about determinant beliefs and an epic struggle between good and evil. Young Goodman Brown faces some real evils, but also has to face his own devilish side, his temptations, his anger and his family's history of cruelty. Hawthorne’s character, Young Goodman Brown, leaves the reader with the impression that "GOOD-MAN" is the focal character that symbolizes his will to be the noble person, in the battle between good and evil. Young Goodman Brown’s faith is tested, and only his walk through the woods will tell how he alters his beliefs and makes changes in his life insistently. Within the in short story, Goodman Brown encounters a journey that takes him through the realization between saints and sinners that later leads him into the woods to encounter a man posed as Satan and a journey back home that leads to delusional thoughts about his community.…

    • 942 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dialectic Journal

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Young Goodman Brown is so surprised that the one person that taught him everything he knows about his faith, has made a deal with the devil.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's short story titled "Young Goodman Brown". "Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society" (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne 's own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    young citizens like Brown were enticed by "fiendish shapes into the frightful solitude of superstitious fear" (53). In addition, Goodman Brown and Faith are important allegorical symbols which will later be pitted against evil; therefore, the good man Brown is not only leaving his wife for the night, but also his faith in God. Before meeting his fellow traveler, the Devil, Goodman Brown promises that after his one rendezvous with evil, he 'll "cling to her [Faith…

    • 2079 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" is about an ordinary man who leaves his wife to go on a journey and along the way confronts evil and the devil. His venture into the forest is his archetypal journey. There are a few foreshadowing moments in the story which leads the reader to see how Goodman Brown subconsciously knew the evil he was going to do. His wife, Faith, wore pink ribbons and explained to Brown that she did not want him to go on his journey because she had had terrible dreams. As he was on his way, he became aware that "as she spoke there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done tonight." (1) He quickly forgot about her, in a form of denial, and went on with his journey. His wife, Faith, is an archetypal character that shows how Brown has faith, religiously speaking, but strays away from his faith while he literally strays from his wife when he returns. The pink ribbons she wears are the mixture of her innocence and passion. The reader is reassured that Brown is set out to do evil when "Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose." (1) Key words that are intertwined throughout the story evoking the evilness of the forest and the difference between Salem and the woods. The road to the forest is a "dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest" (1) and that is where Brown comes in contact with his guide, the devil. Brown sees all of the evils…

    • 711 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Young Goodman Brown” is about a normal religious man goes on a journey. In the story, the characters that are mentioned are Young Goodman Brown, Faith, Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, the Old Man, and the minister. In the story, Young Goodman Brown goes on a journey into the forest and meets an Old Man who tells him things to make him doubt his faith. After seeing many things, he begins to doubt his faith. Then, he finally gives in and his opinion on everyone he looked up to is changed and cannot look at everyone the same anymore. In Young Goodman Brown, a theme that is conveyed by use of symbolism throughout the story is that many people hide behind their religion to make them seem good when they are actually liars and sinners.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's short story "Young Goodman Brown, "the author uses mystery and suspense to hold the attention of the reader. From the beginning to the end of the story, Hawthorne leads the reader into asking the question, "What does all of this witchcraft, mysticism, and the double-sided lifestyles of the characters actually mean?" The reader must not look at "Young Goodman Brown" as just a suspenseful story but also see the many forms of symbolism the author uses. Hawthorne shows that a strong faith is the greatest asset of a man or woman, and when that faith is compromised, the effects of this can cause one to be filled with doubt and cynicism toward the rest of the world.…

    • 1346 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays