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How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Symbols In Young Goodman Brown

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Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of Young Goodman Brown, is widely known for his writing portraying not only dark romanticism but also morals that come with sin. Known for intertwining history in his text, Hawthorne has made Young Goodman Brown a citizen in Salem relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Within this short story, Hawthorne incorporates multitudes of imagery and symbolism so that the reader can connect the historical context and beliefs hidden in detail throughout the story. Commonly exemplified in the story, Hawthorne has given symbolism to the characters in the story. Specifically through the third person point of view, allowing Hawthorne to freely express his focuses, and project the themes through not only the characters but …show more content…

Hawthorne shapes Goodman Brown to be the puritan figure during these times. During the Salem Witch Trials, it was merely a battle to decipher who was purely evil and doing the devil’s work (a witch) and who was innocent. This displaced who people trusted during the 19th century as shown through Young Goodman Brown. Everyone was quick to judge and trust those who did no wrong such as Goody and Faith, but as soon as they were seen in the forest committing sin, it created a sense of awakening for the society that everyone does in fact, has two sides to themselves. Even the main character is not who he seems as soon as he leaves his backbone, wife, and source of “safe haven”, Faith. “Hawthorne refers to Brown as ‘old’ and not as ‘young,’ as ‘Badman’ and not ‘Goodman’ toward the end of the story” (Cochran. 154.) demonstrates how Brown went from being a sacred human to a sinful corrupted being influenced by the ways of evil in a short period of time. Similar to the Salem Witch Trials, many (especially women) were accused of this shift, resulting in a crooked society full of transgression. Furthermore, Hawthorne symbolizes the two-faced personalities through the example of Faith’s pink ribbons in her hair. The color pink symbolizes compassion and playfulness, however, look between the lines that Hawthorne

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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

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Hawthorne writing price also includes symbolism, and point of view, which switch from third person limited to objective. One example of symbolism includes Faith's pink ribbons.the pink ribbons represent Faith’s innocence, and once Goodman Brown sees them falling from the sky onto the dark woods, he realizes that her innocence are no longer and she has sinned. The theme of the story can be label as Guilt vs. Innocence. As stated in the text "So they parted; and the young man pursued his way, until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back, and saw the head of Faith peeping after him, with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons. " this represents the lost of

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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.

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Hawthorne says, “Something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on the branch of a tree” Faith’s pink ribbons symbolize purity. In the beginning of the story was Faith had her ribbons she was pure but at the end of the story when Young Goodman Brown saw Faith’s pink ribbon come down from the sky it represents how she succumed to evil and Hawthorne lost both his faith and his wife Faith. The third example of how Hawthorne uses symbolism to show the theme good versus evil in the story “Young Goodman Brown” is when the devil is telling Brown and Faith that they will have a new perspective of life, a life where everyone sins. In the beginning of the story Young Goodman Brown saw his family as godly and he saw Faith as pure but the devil shows him that his views are naive and the devil gives him the capability to see the dark side of everything and everyone.

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Kimberly Osterberg 20 November 2015 English 100 Professor Suarez Young Goodman Brown: Good vs. Evil In the short story “Young Goodman Brown”, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, probes the psychology of Puritan Salem's witchcraft frenzy to offer insights into the moral complexity of human nature, good vs. evil. The main character in this story is Goodman Brown, a good upstanding Puritan man who lived in Salem Village during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. After emerging from the woods one dark night, he comes out a broken, sad, stern, darkly meditative, distrustful, if not desperate man.

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After reading “Young Goodman Brown,” it becomes apparent to the reader that the author uses symbolism, the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. One will find symbolism being displayed in most Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories. In the short story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism in various ways. When thinking about the color pink, what comes to mind? Pink has always been associated with girlishness and righteousness.

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In Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" it can be described as a moral allegory that illustrates the puritan doctrine of inherent depravity as the Brown. He tests his faith by entering the forest primeval by joining the man "of grave and decent attire" for an evening in the wilderness. It is apparent the symbols are of a religious nature. Hawthorne wrote in the time period known as the Romantic Period. Hawthorne's rejection of the Puritan belief system is the primary message of this story.

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Goodman Brown enters the forest knowing of such evil, he states in the story “what if the devil himself should be at my very elbow” (Hawthorne 322). Goodman Brown sees the minister and Deacon Gookin as well as many other townspeople making their way into the dark forest towards the ceremony. At this time, Nathaniel Hawthorne is displaying that many people of all ranks in religious and governmental society are sinners despite their external appearance. He holds on to the thoughts that as long as Faith remains holy, he shall find it in himself to resist the temptations of evil, but when he sees the pink ribbons from Faith’s cap his Christian faith is weakened. Hawthorne is using Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, as a symbol of his own when he yells out “my faith is gone!”

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In ¨Young Goodman Brown,¨ the characters Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith advance a plot illustrating the temptations of evil to recreate Salem’s Puritan

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Young Goodman Brown is a short story published in 1835 written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Symbolism can be seen throughout Young Goodman Brown in many different forms. The story itself is even considered an allegory, when practically everything is a symbol in itself. Hawthorne thought that the 'fancy free’ fiction style of most writers of the time was incorrect and illogical and wanted to write something different, like many other gothic writers. Symbolism is when something represents something else without it being directly announced.

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1 In Hawthorne 's essay “Young Goodman Brown”, does it matter whether or not the protagonist, Goodman Brown, dreamt the events in the story? The idea and drive behind religious faith and belief is a concept consistently explored in Young Goodman Brown (YGB). The story explores Brown 's journey in a single night which inexplicably ends with a tarnished perspective on religious faith as portrayed by his fellow villagers. Brown himself grows to be disillusioned on faith but the events leading up to this shift however, is ambiguous at best, with the debate mostly centred towards the notion that Brown merely dreamt the events, resulting in an unfair and biased outcome in terms of his sentiment towards the villagers and his own belief.

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Conversely, Hawthorne did not trust man at all. He was a Transcendental Pessimist. He believed man was corrupt, and following his intuition would fail him in life. One of Hawthorne’s short stories, “Young Goodman Brown”, portrays the tale of a young Christian man who wanders into the forest and witnesses a witch-meeting that involves some of the people Goodman Brown thought to be some of the holiest people he knew: the church Deacon, the pastor, and even Brown’s own wife, Faith. After the witch-meeting incident in the woods, Brown wonders whether he witnessed the witch meeting, or if it was a creation of his own imagination: “quote”.

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The young man seized it, and behind a pink ribbon” (392). Further into the story the pink ribbons come back from faith’s hat and it has appeared in the woods this can be seen as a sign that faith has been captured by the devil and no longer practices the Christian faith. Faith can also be seen as a symbol of Goodman’s faith and beliefs. Faith has a lot of meaning in this short story because she’s seen as Goodman Brown’s wife but also his religious side of his life and I think choosing her name to be Faith was

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Literary analyzes of Young Goodman Brown Young goodman brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a normal man that ventures into the forest to meet an old man who attempts to tempt him into going deeper into the woods to worship the devil. After the old man convinces him that everyone that he loves and respects is going to the devil’s ceremony he gives in. In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne effectively uses the personality of the Characters along with symbolism to portray the theme that putting one's faith in others leads to weakness. The Characters in Young Goodman Brown are meant to represent society as a whole.

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In their article titled “‘Young Goodman Brown’: The Close Lane” they state that this theme is portrayed by the actions of Goodman Brown. Zuraikat and Ezghoul suggest that the views of the Puritans were radical, and prompted hatred and mistrust. They state: “With this radicalism, especially against accepting the other, Puritanism becomes the subject of criticism by many American writers including Nathaniel Hawthorne himself” (Ezghoul 2). Rather than a betrayal, each obstacle Goodman Brown meets is a test of faith.

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