“Young Goodman Brown” and “The Most Dangerous Game” Fiction Essay In “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Most Dangerous Game,” authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Richard Connell employ plot, setting, and irony to create themes that are morally powerful. Although these two stories have large similarities they also have major differences. The theme of Good vs. Evil in “Young Goodman Brown” and the overall theme of Instinct vs. Reality in “The Most Dangerous Game” are achieved successfully through the use of these literary elements. Hawthorne and Connell both used the plots in their stories to create the sense of fear and uncertainty which is used to build tension during the conflicts. In the story “Young Goodman Brown,” the main character is walking …show more content…
“Young Goodman Brown” is ironic because Brown resists evil so much, yet it drives him mad for the rest of his life. “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream” (Hawthorne). Although he had managed to get through the night without giving into to the wickedness around him, he went mad and could not enjoy the rest of his life. Instead, he had gone so crazy from the night that may or may not have happened, that he spent his life in fear and distrust of those around him, thus contributing to the theme Good vs. Evil. “The Most Dangerous Game” is ironic in many different ways. Rainsford escapes being hunted, yet he goes back for revenge and kills the man that was hunting him. When he goes to kill his hunter he states that “[he] is still a beast at bay” (Connell). Similarly to the other story, Rainsford seems to have gone mad as well. Instead of just leaving the island, he chooses to go back for revenge and kill the man that almost killed him. This story is also ironic because, at the beginning, Rainsford makes comments about animals not feeling fear. This hinted at the events to come later in the story, with him being hunted himself. These ironies play into the central theme of Reason vs. Instinct because, although Rainsford escaped his death, the animal instincts within him told him to go kill his hunter instead of escaping the island. The