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Response To Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'

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Journal A 1. Nathaniel Hawthorne “Young Goodman Brown” I really liked “Young Goodman Brown”. I enjoyed the heavy symbolism, puns, and biblical themes, which made me think and analyze more. It reminded me of the short tv series, Over the Garden Wall that aired on Cartoon Network, which also had dark,creepy symbols and was set in an unsettling limbo-like forest. It was more difficult to read than other author’s works because the story was written in an older dialect of english and there were many words I did not initially recognize or had to look up the definition to. At some points I was confused because of my lack of knowledge of religious positions and titles used in this time period. While difficult, it was still engaging and the plot moved along fast enough that I was not lost in the details and cultural allusions. I think I would find a full book written by Hawthorne difficult to …show more content…

There is not very much action in the story, but it still is very engaging. There are some more difficult and obscure words that made the story more engaging and interesting to me. I love Melville's use of description and character development, and that he gives the background characters an interesting dynamic and a place in the story. Bartleby himself is a very perplexing character, as we are left to question his lack of motivation and backstory until the very last paragraph of the story. This story was very fun to analyze and theorize to, as there is no definite answer as to what is truly wrong with Bartleby. It is like a mystery novel, but we are not trying to find out who had been murdered, we are trying to unravel why Bartleby acts the way that he does. I liked the strange dynamic of Turkey and Nippers' opposite work habits, and the interesting detail that they were both (probably) alcoholics. The bad choices and little quirks in each character made them feel much more real and human. I would enjoy reading more of Melville's

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