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The Symbolism Of Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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The Christian faith believes that all mankind are born sinners and only through their faith can seek redemption. “Faith is taking the first even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There comes a time where the faith of every man and woman is put to the test. Most choose to resist the temptation, but some do not. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story Young Goodman Brown Hawthorne uses a series of symbols to convey a deeper meaning.
The pink ribbons worn by Faith is conveyed as a symbol of innocence. In the beginning of the short story Faith’s innocence is portrayed as she “thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap (Hawthorne 1). Pink is color that usually …show more content…

Faith does not went her husband to venture off for a night and leaving her alone. Innocence is seen here, because her want for her husband to stay and not go is a sign of innocence. Brown knew his venture was not going to be a pleasant one, so “he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbon (Hawthorne 1). For whatever reason Brown was embarking on his adventure he would need to retain his innocence and his Faith. Brown ends up losing his Faith both figuratively and literally, it is shown when the pink ribbons falls down to the ground. Faith meaning his wife and his belief in God. Hawthorne uses the pink ribbons to represent innocence, but uses the staff and the forest to represent evil.
Further along Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest he is joined by a man “in grave and decent attire” (Hawthorne 1). The

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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.

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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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Faith in “Young Goodman Brown”, Georgiana in “The Birthmark”, and Elizabeth in “The Minister’s Black Veil” are all very important characters throughout each of these stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. They are not only each a large part of their own individual story, but they are used especially to reveal truth about the main male characters to which they are with. In “Young Goodman Brown”, Faith is the person to which Goodman Brown holds on to when he starts to be apprehensive and question the moral goodness of the people around him. Faith reveals that Goodman is testing his spiritual faith.

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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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Once Young Goodman Brown is in the woods, he comes across his innocent Faith’s symbolic ribbon of innocence, it “fluttered down, through the air and caught on a branch of a tree. A young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon. ‘My Faith is gone! There is no good on Earth!’” is Goodman’s last call out to his dear Faith as he realizes that there truly cannot be a person that is so pure on this cruel earth, As for Connie, she yells out at Arnold “Shut up!

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The main character’s name, Goodman Brown, represents how good he is and how faithful he is. His wife, Faith, fully represents Goodman Brown’s faith and purity. At first, his wife, Faith, was at home which symbolizes his faith was still intact and safe: "Then God bless you!" said Faith, with the pink ribbons, "and may you find all well, when you come back." However, Goodman Brown would not be coming home well as he ventures into the woods and finds Faith’s pink ribbon, which symbolizes that his faith has been taken from him.

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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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(Hawthorne) This example establishes Faiths allegorical function. Also, Young Goodman Brown is sort of an “Everyman” figure, a representative of humans who are seeking to experience one last “fling” with evil before committing to one’s faith. The symbolic meaning of his wife name “Faith” and the color of the ribbon in her hair clearly tells us what she represents. The authors style of lecturing morals is suggestive of the religious writing of the Old and New Testament.

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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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At the beginning of the story it seemed apparent that the story will focus on the relationship on faith and the devil as Nathaniel Hawthorne is well known for including symbolism in his stories. Two items that stand out are Faith’s pink ribbons and the old man’s serpentine staff. The pink ribbons closely resemble a person’s innocence and purity by pairing it with Faith, whom is portrayed to be a pure girl to never lose their faith. The pink ribbon makes an appearance three times in the story: once in the beginning, middle, and end. A lightly colored ribbon can also be perceived to be

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Coincidentally enough, not only does Goodman Brown struggle to hold on to his wife but his Christian faith as well while traveling the streets of a Salem village. The author mentions Faith’s pink ribbon in her cap throughout the story instilling her character with joy. Pink ribbons symbolize

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To him, his young wife represents all that is good in mankind and the author adorns Faith with pink ribbons to symbolize her innocence and goodness. For example, when Faith tries to get Goodman Brown to remain at home instead of going on a mysterious nighttime journey into the deep dark woods, she “thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap” (Hawthorne, 1). Not only does the vision of his new pretty wife call out to Goodman Brown not to stray, but also her pink ribbons are further meant to prompt the young husband not to leave righteousness behind. When Goodman Brown sees Faith’s beribboned head as he walks away, he says, “she’s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I’ll cling to her skirts to follow her to heaven” (Hawthorne, 1). Unable to withstand the lure of an illicit meeting in an evil forest, he ultimately plans to rely on the godliness of his wife, to ground him and keep him on a moral path.

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Secondly, Faith’s pink bow is symbolic because the color pink is generally associated with innocence or purity. At the beginning of the story, Hawthorne mentions Faith’s ribbon multiple time expressing the fact that Faith is youthful and happy. Later, he reintroduces Faith’s ribbons when Young Goodman Brown is in the forest struggling with his doubts about the

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