Young Goodman Brown Essay

I found the story of 'Young Goodman Brown' very fascinating. The author Nathaniel Hawthorne used various literary techniques to covey his message. I had to read the story multiple times to grasp the concept and the meaning behind it. In this essay, I'll discuss the psychoanalytic approach to the story and analyzing how this approach correlate to the text, reader, and author. Before looking at the story from the psychoanalytical perspective, we need to define what the psychoanalytical theory is. Sigmund Freud developed the psychoanalytic approach to literature. His approach encompassed human psychology and the nature of unconscious mind (1). According to Freud, a person's personality is driven from the interaction of three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id,

According to Freud, the id only wants self-gratification regardless of the outcome. In the story, Brown's earnest need to go on the journey in to wood even after Faith (his wife) begs him not to, indicates his inner desire for sin. The story indicates that Brown's intentions were not pure, he "… felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose" (2). In contrary to id, super ego focuses on the social rules and morals. Brown's hesitation to keep walking with the stranger and later on refusing to join the congregation shows the conflict between id and superego. Ego plays the mediator role between the two states of minds. Ultimately, Brown's inability to balance these two states of mind results in his attitude towards the society. It is clearly described in Weld's essay, "the sources of social control are undermined in Brown's psyche" (3). Therefore, I think the psychoanalytic approach in interpreting the story is helpful in understanding the psychological aspects of the characters and their