Alivia Ash
Profesor Pinzone
ENG 2050
`25 April 2023
Altered destinations The exit may not always be clear when you begin any journey in life. You may be faced with temptations, obstacles, and detours without proper knowledge and guidance of such. In “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown enters the woods with the intent to face the devil and overcome its darkness, returning home as a still greatly devoted Puritan. He meets characters on his way that try to lead him towards self-destruction and Brown eventually returns as a changed man. In “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”, also by Hawthorne, Robin arrives in a strange city with the intentions of finding a relative of his, Major Molineux. He encounters characters
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Both Brown and Robin are young and naive boys beginning a journey with clear intentions. However, the type of journey the boys were a part of, the characters they met along the way, and the final outcome of each journey differ greatly. Brown began a path that was on its way towards evil and can eventually be established as a journey of moral disillusionment, while Robin is in search of help from another, but eventually gains independence, ruling his journey one of self-development. Secondly, Brown was met with a main character that encouraged him to continue on this path, and was later found to be of evil descent, referred to as “the devil”. On the other hand, Robin met many characters that did not provide any assistance to him, but went on to meet a kind man that provided him with education and company and had the intention of pushing Robin to become aware of the growth he had made. Lastly, Brown’s journey left him to live in fear of evil and to never be able to trust anyone again, while Robin’s journey promoted self-discovery by leading \him to realize how much he was capable of doing on his own. Overall, Brown and Robin had different experiences on their journeys, but both were faced with temptations, obstacles, and detours. You may not always be aware of the final destination, but in the end, no journey is left without a lesson for the one that chooses to board