ipl-logo

Response To Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'

1818 Words8 Pages

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

Show More
Related
127 Words | 1 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne leaves it to our own opinion to believe if Goodman Brown was dreaming or awake. In the beginning of the story it’s believed they saw Goodman Brown was awake before going into the forest. Then when he going into the forest, Goodman Brown had fallen asleep. So, the story has us believe that his worst fears came to reality. In the end it leaves us to question in what we thought from the beginning.

Read More
790 Words | 4 Pages

“Young Goodman Brown.” : An Annotated Bibliography “Young Goodman Brown” is a story about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Gregory, Leslie. " The Text of Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "Young Goodman Brown". " American Literature Research and Analysis.

Read More
253 Words | 2 Pages

In my opinion this book was slow and boring with very few things I can relate to. Most of the story didn't have the wow factor that you get while reading other books. The story being set mostly in 1823-1824 was hard to connect to and was poorly developed by the author. One

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

In the story “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorn uses symbolism and imagery to present the idea that messing with good versus evil is a dangerous decision. The reader is able to take away that Young Goodman Brown made the decision to choose evil and in the end he ended up dying an unhappy man. This vivid imagery and symbolism shown in the short story wasn’t enough to frighten Brown, but

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the whole story everyone around the office is always asking him questions trying to figure out what’s up with him and every time he answers with the same answer “I prefer not to” (Melville 139). The lawyer still constantly tries to figure him out and still asks him questions and even though Bartleby responds with the same answer every time and the lawyer still doesn’t give up. So as you read the story and get more in depth with it you can definitely tell that Bartleby is ours story’s antagonist.

Read More
1728 Words | 7 Pages

This talk of devilish acts from people known to Goodman Brown as holier than all causes Goodman Brown great pain and confusion even to the point where he was “ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburdened” from what he had just witnessed (5). In the short time from when Goodman Brown enters the forest, sees Goody Cloyse, and sees the minister and the deacon, his entire life and upbringing is

Read More
1403 Words | 6 Pages

During this time the narrator becomes consumed by Bartleby as, “Indeed, it was his wonderful mildness chiefly, which not only disarmed me but unmanned me, as it were.” (307, Melville) Bartleby’s freedom from greed, ego or any emotion was so intriguing to the narrator he perpetually pondered this pallid man. The more time the narrator takes in Bartleby, the more

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

No matter if he resorts to logic, verbal commands, or bargaining, Bartleby’s stature remains stagnant, and his motive, unclear. Even when Nippers approaches Bartleby, angered by Bartleby’s continued rebellion against the lawyer and his irritating responses, and threatens to physically harm him, the lawyer sees that “Bartleby moved not a limb” (Melville, 310). He shows no signs of fear or worry from a threat that is so present with him. If he has not reacted from something as severe as this, then what will spark any kind of ‘human’ response from him? Nothing will, not even the fear of starvation and death, as seen near the end of the story.

Read More
193 Words | 1 Pages

The paragraph emphases the unusual relationships between the narrator and Bartleby that they are paired characters. Paired characters are two characters who have the same meaning and can not be separated. In Melville’s “Bartleby”, although the lawyer and Bartleby cannot understand each other, they cannot deviate from each other either. In the texts “doubtless I should have violently dismissed him […] This is very strange, thought I”.

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1811 Words | 8 Pages

The reason for this is because, the narrator has a hard time figuring Bartleby out. The narrator sees that Bartleby is a lot more difficult to read. When something is hard to read, then the reader must keep reading to figure it out. Therefore, the narrator represents the act of reading in that, readers are intrigued by what is not easily read. The final few points can now be made that not only does the narrator represent the readers and reading itself, but that Bartleby is a symbol for the act of writing and is representative if Herman Melville himself.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

It is a great love story only enhanced by the outlandish characters and constant mockery. The pacing of the novel is slow at first until half way through the first volume. The plot then accelerates and by the third volume it is hard to put down. Characters such as Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet, and Lady De Bourgh were all hysterical caricatures meant that livened up the novel during times when the plot was thin. The novel would not have been as cohesive or interesting without characters to add comic relief.

Read More
632 Words | 3 Pages

For the first time in the story Melville begins questioning human existence through the narrator’s response to discovering Bartleby living in the office. Thomas Mitchell author of the article Dead Letters and Dead Men best described this event in is his statement, “Stricken by his sudden awareness of the immensity of Bartleby's solitude, his total isolation from all human contact, the narrator is shocked out of the "snug retreat" of his own isolation by his realization of the "bond of common humanity"” (Mitchell). Discovering Bartleby in the office creates a mixed feeling of emotions for the narrator. In his statement "Yes, thought I, it is evident enough that Bartleby has been making his home here, keeping bachelor's hall all by himself. Immediately

Read More
1282 Words | 6 Pages

Hat there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; in other words, had there been anything ordinarily human about him, doubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises” (376). Bartleby's choice is decisive to the point that it's inhuman – his choices are so definite that his mind is unchangeable, a quality that makes them difficult to address. One may state that the baffling character of Bartleby is the genuine heart of this mysterious short story – yet he's not precisely an enthusiastic, dynamic, thumping heart. It's noteworthy that Melville picked basically to name the entire story after this odd man; like our anonymous storyteller, we are all increasingly fascinated and maybe stunned by Bartleby's behavior. Melville's choice to place his inactive anti-hero smack-dab in the middle of the busy Financial District makes Bartleby himself considerably a greater amount of a peculiarity.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

However, despite being his most famous novel, only three thousand copies of the book were sold while Herman was still living(“Herman Melville”). By the 20th century the novel was reborn as literary analysts began to comment on the excellence presented by the story and many copies began selling as it became a must for high school curriculums all over the United States As one digs deep into Moby Dick, one would get the feeling of how life on the high seas was and the excitement that a sailor’s life was comprised of. Herman wrote the novel in first person point of view as a sailor on the whaling ship just as he had been during his voyages. This helps to add reality to a story that was somewhat unbelievable to people when it was first published.

Read More

More about Response To Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'

Related Topics

Open Document