Conveying Symbolism Through Theme In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Conveying Symbolism Through Theme

When analyzing a short story, poem, novel, or any piece of literature, a few key components work together to create the plot of the work. For me specifically, the overall theme of the story usually tops the list. In Young Goodman Brown, author Hawthorne uses many symbols to convey the themes of the story: the weakness of public morality and loss of innocence.

Firstly, perhaps the most obvious symbol in the story, is the staff. Brown loins out that the staff clearly resembled a black serpent. If you paid attention in Sunday school class, you would automatically connect this with evil. In the book of Genesis, we know that the serpent that appeared to Adam and Eve provoked curiosity into their innocent minds and ultimately lead to temptation and the couple to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. Like Adam and Eve, Brown let his own curiosity get in the way of his core values when he ventured out into the forest.

When one thinks of the color pink, our minds are usually drawn to innocence or purity. In Young Goodman Brown, Faith’s pink ribbons are mentioned on various occasions. “Faith thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap” (P. 1, paragraph 2, Young Goodman Brown) This leads us to associate her character with youthfulness and happiness. When Goodman Brown sees

The character that we come to know as Faith in Young Goodman Brown is primarily a symbol for primary Christian beliefs. “And what calm sleep would be his that very night, which was to have been spent so wickedly, but so purely and sweetly now, in the arms of Faith!" (P. 6, paragraph 3 Young Goodman Brown) In the story, all of the evil villains were trying to lead Brown away from his Faith, just as the devil’s temptations will attempt to lead one from God. Upon his return at the village, he found that his Faith was not as comforting as it used to