Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown: Molding An Author

Nathaniel Flint

Phillip Roderick

English 101

05 July 2023

Nathaniel Hawthorne: Molding an Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne, born on July 4, 1804, in Salem Massachusetts. He was known for his fictional short stories and American novels. His parents were Nathaniel Hathorne Sr. and Elizabeth Clark Manning. Hawthorne had two sisters; He was the middle child. Hathorne Sr. died in 1804 of yellow fever. Elizabeth was a widow and took care of Hawthorne and his two siblings. Hawthorne started his reading and writing career, around age 9, when he sustained a traumatizing leg injury that left him immobile for two years and four months. His interest in writing literature evolved at a young age. Nathaniel Hawthorne was the greatest Gothic American writer because

He believed that evil could control a part of human-nature. He too believed that there was good in humanity, however it is easier for the heart to turn evil. Hawthorn mentions that “[t]here is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole of life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity” (Hawthorne et-al. 231). Humans could be evil; All it takes is hatred to open a whole world to the devil. Hawthorne grew up in an era that believed in the supernatural’s of life. In “Young Goodman Brown” the devil leads Brown through the woods simulating a dark path; Brown continues the path becoming a sinner; Brown wanting to know what is on the other side. Hawthorne’s stories included a common theme of evil persuasion because mankind is weak and susceptible to sin. Undoubtedly, the negativity of mankind that shaped Hawthorne view of the world, defined him to be the leading American Gothic

He respected his family religion, yet he chose not to agree and follow the lifestyle. Hawthorne’s life was still shaped by Puritanism. He reflected in many short stories the difficulties of the religion. Hawthorne was mandated to go to church, however his views on life were not the same as Puritans. Jerome Loving, a critical essay analyst reviewing “Young Goodman Brown,'' describes the short story as an “[s]ymbolic of the puritan fear of the Fall in the New World’ (Loving 221). Puritans feel that when the world evolves, human nature falls to the devil and the beginning of the end of the world. Hawthorne used hidden messages in his writings to show judgment of Puritanism. He states in “The Scarlet Letter'' that “Puritans compressed whatever mirth and public joy they deemed allowable to human infirmity” (Hawthorne 359). Puritans are not allowed to have pleasure during holidays or any public outings. Puritans fear that amusement and joy could ultimately turn into sinful behavior. Hawthorne viewed the religion as hypocritical; Puritans rarely followed their own rules. Hawthorne’s was the utopia of an American Gothic author, as a result of his Puritan ancestors raising