The Young Goodman Brown the theme of the story is the loss of innocence. “A stern‚ a sad‚ a darkly meditative‚ a distrustful‚ if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.” Symbolism helps him find out a lot of things. The day Goodman Brown starts his journey to the forest is the day he starts realizing a lot of things. “He had taken a dreary road‚ darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest.” The forest was gloomy. Goodman was afraid of what could be behind every
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applied to this are that “Young” refers to youthful age and naivety‚ while “Goodman” infers being uncorrupted (Lorcher). This naivety can be seen as a direct reference to his being tempted by Satan on his forthcoming journey and the potential loss of innocence. Goodman Brown informs his newlywed wife that he must take this mysterious journey without deviation. In this manner‚ it is very much like Hawthorne’s own father leaving on the mysterious sea voyage and never returning. This journey happened
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An initiation story’s plot is typically concerned with a protagonist’s experience that drives character development. More commonly it is concerned with the loss of innocence in a child adolescent. One example of this category of fictional writing is “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro‚ in which a young girl found pride in helping her father breed and slaughter animals in a time and place where a woman’s role was to be married and tend to a family. After watching her father kill Mack‚ a horse the narrator
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determine whether or not they’re capable of losing their childhood innocence. Throughout the boys journey they come across many life threatening situations‚ which forces them to use survival instincts‚ that corresponds to their true personalities. The unique ways in which the boys handled the situations put forth in front of them‚ foreshadows whom they truly are as well as their individual abilities to lose their childhood innocence. Gordie‚ Chris‚ Vern and Teddy are all lower class boys who are
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How does the extreme hardship and conflict of war affect an individual? War always takes a toll on the individual and leaves drastic changes to the human soul; this loss of innocence is a recurring motif and major theme throughout the novel. Erich Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war novels of all time. The story follows the protagonist‚ Paul Baumer‚ a young‚ artistic boy who enlists into the German army in World War I and challenges the false glorification of war
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to get away from war. On the way to their destination‚ the plane crashes and all of the adults are killed. The boys’ situation will change from being normal‚ to being alone with no adults. In the novel‚ Lord of the Flies‚ William Golding shows the loss of identity in the boys when they descend into savages because of their need for social structure. The boys hide their identities by covering their faces with paint‚ and wearing so called ‘masks’. When Jack and his gang cover themselves with paint
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Loss of Innocence in Burn my Heart Burn My Heart a novel by Beverly Naidoo portrays two boys of different races in a racist country. Mathew is friends with both Mugo and Lance. The biggest difference between Lance and Mugo is that Mugo is poor and has no friends while Lance is rich and very popular. Mathew needs Lance to be his friend so he gains some popularity whilst Mugo has always been his loyal friend. Mugo is always there for Mathew and he always listen to what Mathew wants sometimes giving
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Society is filled with corrupt adults‚ which makes it inevitable for the loss of childhood innocence as children enter into the adult world. Some say that society can change and take a turn for the better‚ and though it may not be filled with honest‚ pure hearted people‚ it can be more genuine and more about the heart and less about success and materialistic pursuits. Others say that society cannot change and that it will continue to be corrupt and filled with selfish individuals‚ regardless of
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many 18 year olds off to fight for their country-when most had never picked up a gun. The question always remains‚ whose war are we fighting? In Tim O’Brien’s short story "The Things They Carried" there are many examples of the psychological loss of innocence of a young soldier. Similarly‚ in Louise Erdrich’s "The Red Convertible‚" the reader becomes acquainted with the effects of war after returning home. In both works the trauma that a young soldier experiences is made painfully real. In essence
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In "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles‚ it is evident that Finny and Leper undergo the most traumatic experiences from the Class of 1943. Through these experiences‚ both characters lose much of their innocence and naivety. Finny‚ upon learning of the existence of the war and Gene’s moment of hatred‚ learns to accept realities and perceive the world as it is‚ not as the perfect childlike image he wants it to be. However‚ when Leper enlists in the army‚ he quickly begins to have hallucinations because
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