Good Vs Evil

Throughout life, there is a constant struggle between antagonistic items. These items could be light and dark, peace and war, or sunshine and rain. However, there are two antagonistic items that are the route of all problems throughout the world: good and evil. While good and evil are found in many aspects of life, throughout history, even from the times of Adam and Eve, these two items have been the center of Christianity. With good and evil being the base of the struggles that Christians faced throughout history, the plots of many stories were centered upon exploring those who could not overcome such struggles. Such plots can be found in the writings of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Good

Generally speaking, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is about a grandmother who is trying to build up her faith when she only has a few more minutes to live because her “strong faith” throughout her life was only superficial. On the opposite side of the spectrum, “Young Goodman Brown” is about the loss of faith (due to temptation) in someone who was once very strong in their religion. Additionally, while the grandmother’s faith was not as strong until the end, she still kept ahold of prayers until her last breath. Young Goodman Brown, on the other hand, lost sight of God when he needed him the most and more easily fell to the temptation brought about by the Devil. While both stories show changes in the characters due to evil, the grandmother does not have to live with her change that would have actually been good. Though she does not have to live with her change, O’Connor is implying that the grandmother will reach salvation in heaven. However, Young Goodman Brown has to live with his decision that was ultimately choosing evil. Whether or not the events in the forest were real or just a dream, Browns life is now characterized by the inability to find a way to the realities of society and he lacks the trust in anyone, including his wife (Rowshanzamir, 113). Beyond living a faithless life, “Young Goodman Brown” ends with Hawthorne implying that Brown is going to Hell. Hawthorne states that an unhopeful verse was carved in Browns tombstone because his death was just as unfaithful as his life. (Hawthorne, 8). While the grandmother and Brown both fall into the hands of evil, each deal with evil differently which results in the differences in each of their lives after the encounter with