In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses diction and imagery to show how revelation often leads to corruption.
Initially, Goodman Brown’s character is portrayed as a kind and innocent Puritan by Hawthorne’s use of diction.
For example, by saying “my sweet, pretty wife” (1), Brown demonstrates his adoration towards his wife; he even goes as far to compare her to an angel.
With his glorified view of people and occasional religious terminology, Goodman is depicted as a loving and loyal person through the use of diction.
Hawthorne then uses imagery to develop Brown’s gradual descent into corruption.
When Brown declares that “there is no good on earth” and how “sin is but a name” (6), the realization of mankind corrupts his pure mentality.