ipl-logo

How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Symbols In Young Goodman Brown

530 Words3 Pages

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. Even for Puritans, pink represents innocence. In this story, Young Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, wears pink ribbons. “Then God bless you!” said Faith, with the pink ribbons, “and may you find all well, when you come back (4).” This sentence shows how caring she is towards her husband, even when he is going off to do a task that she does not approve of. The pink ribbons symbolize her innocence, yet when she is in the forest, she does not have them anymore. Faith not having the pink ribbons in the forest means that she has lost her virtue. In the end of the story she has the pink ribbons in her hair again, so the author is trying to tell us that she is pure again. Throughout the story, Faith’s innocence is represented by whether she is wearing the ribbons in her hair …show more content…

A snake is one of the few animals that people correlate with the devil. That is no different in the story “Young Goodman Brown.” Young Goodman Brown meets a traveler in the forest who carries a staff that is shaped like a snake. “But the only thing about him, that could be fixed upon as remarkable, was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake (13).” The staff strongly suggests the man’s supernatural and sinful nature, and it connects “Young Goodman Brown” to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. When the devil tells Goodman Brown to use the staff to travel faster, Young Goodman Brown takes him up on the offer and, like Eve, is condemned for his

Show More
Related

Essay On Symbolism In Young Goodman Brown And The Raven

495 Words | 2 Pages

Faith, Young Goodman Brown’s wife name is a symbol of her personality. “Faith, as the wife was aptly named,” (Brown 619) is emblematic to her nature. A symbol that is used more than once would be the pink ribbon. “…thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap,” (Brown 620). Faith has a connection to the pink ribbon because the ribbon is a symbol of purity and innocence, which she was.

Read More

Conveying Symbolism Through Theme In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

471 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

Use Of Allegory In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

376 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More

Imagery In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

467 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

Similarities Between Young Goodman Brown And Beowulf

684 Words | 3 Pages

Near the end of the story in paragraph 69-71, Faith was at the altar with Brown during the minister's baptism when Brown eventually woke up and went home where he felt strange seeing the people in his community. Faith ran up to Brown with joy and excitement in her

Read More

Use Of Moral Allegory In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

491 Words | 2 Pages

Although he blames his evil and hypocrisy on others he leaves his faith first. He develops this thought in the allegory and in many symbols, particularly the sunset, the walking stick, and the path. When Goodman Brown say, "Of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee," he is saying in other words that he needs to be away from his wife Faith that night. “of all nights in the yea”' means possibly that he is home most other nights and that tonight is significant because he has something important to do away from

Read More

The Symbolism Of Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

544 Words | 3 Pages

Hawthorn names Goodman’s wife Faith to constantly remind the readers of the symbolism of his faith throughout the story. As Hawthorn introduces Faith into the story he says, “...the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap.” suggesting that she is honest and pure comparing it to Goodman’s own faith. When Goodman enters the woods, he is greeted by an old man, presumably the devil, and his faith is questioned.

Read More

Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne: Utilization Of Symbolism

149 Words | 1 Pages

Through the utilization of symbolism, Nathaniel Hawthorne effectively creates extremely significant objects weaved throughout the story. In the story, Brown meets a man with a staff that resembled a snake. This is very significant because a snake is well associated as the devil from Adam and Eve. The snake in the story Adam and Eve is able to convince them to commit the first original sin.

Read More

Theme Of Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

512 Words | 3 Pages

One traveler in particular is a manifestation of evil. The story describes the traveler “a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wiggle itself like a living serpent” (Hawthorne 323). This stems from a Biblical representation that a serpent is a evil demon. As they travel through the streets of Salem they enter into a dark forest, which provides most of the setting for the story. Puritans, like Goodman Brown, associated the forest as a symbol of evil and sin that had been inhabited by witches and devils.

Read More

Good And Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

687 Words | 3 Pages

At this point the Devil throws Goodman Brown his snake-like staff. Hawthorne uses the staff as a strong literary device to make the Devil or antagonist of the story of the text become more obvious to the reader. This particular exchange of the staff to Goodman Brown represented the transference of evil from the Devil to him (Magee). The staff ironically "bore the likeness of a great black snake". The staff is symbolic of the presence of evil in the rendezvous between Goodman Brown and the Devil.

Read More

Young Goodman Brown Essay

1047 Words | 5 Pages

It is thus symbolically speaking something that has the potential to harm or to help, much like the religious figures Goodman Brown encounters in the dark. It is also worth noting that the serpent that the stick becomes is representative of the devil and evil. One of the most obvious symbols in “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the concept of Goodman being both literally and metaphorically married to Faith. His faith is what he most treasures and after his experience it is what he is most afraid of

Read More

Symbols And Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

890 Words | 4 Pages

But, no, no! 'would kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven. " Before he goes into the forest and sees what he’s not supposed to, he thinks of faith as the most wonderful thing ever, then his mood towards her changes when he sees her in a bad position. The story also talks about the travelers Young Goodman Brown Sees. He was surprised to see people he knew among them, some of them were the people who represented the town.

Read More

Theme Of Darkness In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

844 Words | 4 Pages

She represents Brown's own moral and spiritual struggles, as well as his final mental collapse. Faith, like her name, is a manifestation of Goodman Brown's own purity. Faith is renowned in the beginning of the story for living and being near to Brown, especially as a loving woman who would stay with Brown forever. When Brown departs for his trip, he describes his wife as "Poor little Faith!" and a "blessed angel on earth," whom he would accompany to Heaven (Hawthorne 155).

Read More

What Are The Symbols In Young Goodman Brown

613 Words | 3 Pages

The snake on the end of the staff represents the devil. No other animal makes you think of the devil like a snake does. In Young Goodman Brown, the staff is brought into the story when Goodman Brown meets the man in the woods. “But the only thing about him, that could be fixed upon as remarkable, is his staff, which bore the likeliness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself, like a living serpent.” (par. 13)

Read More

The Irrational World In Macbeth's Tragedy

1571 Words | 7 Pages

Abstract: There are two opposed worlds in “Macbeth”_ rational and irrational. Macbeth’s tragedy begins when he begins to apply the standards of the irrational world in the rational one where he lives. The rational world is marked by complexities, uncertainties and inter-dependences of events. Heroism, in this world, consists in confronting these. The irrational world is characterized by simplicities, certainties and isolation of events.

Read More

More about How Does Nathaniel Hawthorne Use Symbols In Young Goodman Brown

Related Topics

Open Document