Preview

Comparing Young Goodman Brown And The Minister's Black Veil

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
693 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing Young Goodman Brown And The Minister's Black Veil
Veil vs. Goodman I
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil there are many thematic connections between both protagonists and antagonists. Some of the protagonistic similarities in these tales embrace that both of the characters become complacent about the community that they have come to know and love. In the case of The Minister’s Black Veil Parson Hooper undergoes a transformation as an energetic preacher, revered by all, to a social pariah when he dawned the black veil. Doing so caused uneasy feelings in the community around him, which led to the building of contempt against him. Similarly, in the case of Young Goodman Brown his journey into the ‘forest’ left him world-weary of the place and peoples he grew to love from childhood including his father and grandfather. Which in turn caused Brown to have an exponentially
…show more content…
Evil must be your only happiness.” (Norton)
In the case of the Minister Parson Hooper it seems that he decides to embody the evils that his is witness to. In doing so Hooper advents the black veil then wears it with a ‘sad smile’ as he goes about a ministers duties. Often regarded
…show more content…
All be it that the outcomes were very different. Hooper learned of the wickedness of society and chose to express it in his physical appearance, the veil. When the citizens gazed upon him with contentious eyes it was the malcontent which stirred in their own bodies. Brown discarded social connections and saw the world as hypocritical usurpers. Also in Brown’s case it could be as a simile to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Eternal Garden in which Eve (Faith) was tempted by the figure in the woods. It could have possibly been an attempt to save Brown, if it really

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Cited: Hawthorne, Nathanial. "Young Goodman Brown." The Norton Anthology American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1289-1298.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    In “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne places a young Puritan at the beginning of an errand that could be perceived as just another walk in the forest. It is clear that Goodman Brown and his wife realize this night could alter their future in some way. In…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorn uses irony in the story of “Young Goodman Brown” to portray the fact that although people may appear good on the outside, they all have some sort of evil inside of them. Hawthorne also uses descriptive imagery to discuss this evil in the characters and in the forest. Hawthorne uses his imagery to portray Goodman Brown’s dark venture into this evil, with vivid descriptions of the forest and of the witching ceremony. He uses irony when referring to the people involved in the ceremony and the people in Young Goodman Brown’s life. He also uses his irony with the name and word “Faith”: referring to both Young Goodman Brown’s wife and his spiritual faith. The word “Faith” has a lot of symbolic meaning to the main character. Hawthorne uses all of these aspects to tell a story of a man venturing into the woods to complete an evil deed.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 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

    The Minister's Black Veil

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The minister’s black veil is revealed in Mr. Hooper's remarks to Elizabeth when she wonders why he had chosen to wear that mysterious black veil.Mr. Hooper was the pastor who gives a sermon on the subject of sins which, when he is giving the sermon he wears the black veil, which makes people wonder why he wears that. No one dares to ask him why he wears it , the only person who had the courage to ask was his fiance Elizabeth. He is asked to remove it but he refuses to do so. It was so strange how everywhere he went he always had that mysterious black veil.…

    • 1296 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hooper’s congregation possess too much pride and cannot accept that every human is flawed. Suddenly, the minister dons a veil upon his face with no explanation, and although he wears a simple piece of fabric, the townspeople begin to gossip about and avoid him. “But that piece of crape, to their imagination, seemed to hang down before his heart, the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them” (Hawthorne 6). They cannot accept Mr. Hooper’s veil because he has the bravery to publicly display his own immorality when his duty as a minister is to represent a holy person free of sin. As a role model of society, a minister guides the lives of others. If a person of God can have flaws, then the average person can most definitely be flawed as well, and a Puritan cannot sin if they want to go to Heaven. Therefore, admitting that all humans have flaws would mean their straight and narrow Puritan lifestyle holds no significance. Just as Mr. Hooper’s congregation cannot admit their own flaws, The characters in Poe’s story have the inability to accept that they can fall victim to death and disease. In The Masque of the Red Death, Prince Prospero and his revelers have an excessive amount of pride, which leads to them believing that they can cheat out death. They lock themselves within a castellated abbey, where “There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was beauty,…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Contained in both stories is an issue where evil is present. The evil that exposes the characters in the pieces is very different but effective. During these situations the characters alter their facades to reveal their true selves. It might even be said that the theme for these works is how the worst situation leads us to a quest of self discovery. This thought brings us to the idea that, sometimes evil has to become evident in order for us to truly understand ourselves and others. Within the story of "Young Goodman Brown"�, Hawthorne uses the image of Satan, in human form to represent evil. This kind faced Satan rapidly exhibits the evil among the people in the town of Salem. The character quickly reveals the true nature of the towns people by blatantly stating it. This vast amount of information can not be fully comprehended by Goodman Brown. In his situation Brown could not accept the flaws he was presented with and could see nothing but evil in himself and others. This sudden realization of evil brought down his previously "pure"� disposition, Brown was nothing but evil himself.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Young Goodman Brown

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In this extract from “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism, imagery and point of view to depict Goodman Brown’s eventual journey from naivety in man’s purity of faith to recognition of man’s disposition to evil. It reveals Brown’s misplaced faith in man, who is deficient, instead of God.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Young Goodman Brown

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a young man who has to endure the experience of temptations of evil and dance with the devil. Goodman Brown is a young adult who has influences all around him swaying him towards evil that he felt were reliable role models. Hawthorne uses literary devices to display many different meanings in this story. In the story, the most common devices are imagery and symbolism. The imagery used is to help the reader understand the symbolism he is portraying. He uses these devices to develop a theme to the story and provide different aspects of good and evil. Many people now a days fall under the temptation of sin, even Christians. Having faith with God is commonly seen as a good relationship to have and gives you a positive outlook on life, but after losing that faith, your world darkens and not everything seems as bright as it did. Hawthorne’s use of symbolism and imagery helps to develop the theme of Christians losing faith through temptation and peer pressure as Goodman Brown does.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    An Angry God's Sinners

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The theme in both texts are pretty similar. One theme in The Minister’s Black Veil is that you can’t try to cover up your sins, it will just bring you down. In lines 39-40 of the text it says, “With this gloomy shade before him, good Mr. Hooper walked at a slow pace, stooping somewhat and looking at the ground, as is customary with abstracted men, yet nodding kindly to those of his parishioners who still waited on the meetinghouse steps.” This quote from The Minister’s Black Veil shows that it brought Mr. Hooper down while he wore the veil, the reason he wore the veil was to try to cover his sins. A theme that is in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is that if you don’t repent for your…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Many authors throughout history do not intend to incorporate archetypal symbols in their stories, but from an archetypal critic’s point of view, it is evident that all of them do use these symbols. In the short story “Young Goodman Brown”, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, archetypal colors, characters, and garden imagery are evident and help the audience realize the theme, as Hawthorne writes, “’Evil is the nature of mankind’” (636).…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the hidden darkness in each and everyone one of us. The iron string within our souls is not as pure as it may seem. Young Goodman Brown understands his evil and chooses to explore it more completely. Looking within yourself, to find all truth, was the main theme in Young Goodman Brown, and that is the main point Ralph Waldo Emerson makes in his essay “Self Reliance”. Even with Hawthorne’s unique writing style and particular symbolism, no one can ignore the fact that the entirety of his work is filled with Emerson’s…

    • 100 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Young Goodman Brown” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorn, one of the most talented American novelists and storytellers of the Romantic Age. He was affected deeply by Puritanism and Mysticism so that he formed a suspicious attitude towards the world, just like in “Young Goodman Brown”. This story is really short but the content of the story is meaningful. Hawthorn has an allegory technique in fiction writing and shows a strong tendency toward symbolism. He uses the profound symbolism and delicate descriptions of the characters’ minds to convey the distinguished thematic meanings.…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rfrfirf

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It’s rather difficult to understand exactly which one is closer to what the author implied. The next interesting question is “why is the veil painted?”. What colours? If we speak about a real veil, what colours can we see on it? To my mind, it can only be plain and usually dark. This word has something dark and mysterious in it as a veil is usually worn by widows or at funerals.…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    rewq

    • 509 Words
    • 2 Pages

    work can make the theme more apparent. “Images emerge as more and more important…certain images, or colors…keep coming up…. Bit by formal bit, we think we begin to see a theme emerging from the work.” (Guerin, 74-75). Young Goodman Brown is the story of an innocent young man who realizes the imperfections and flaws of the world and its people,…

    • 509 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays