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Loss Of Innocence In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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According to Irving Howe, “the knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable.” This quote pertains to the actions of the protagonist in the short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The protagonist, Goodman Brown, a naïve young man, goes on a life changing journey where he gains knowledge of the people he looks up to, which in turn, makes him question their integrity. Throughout this journey he goes from seeing those he loves like they are faultless to seeing that even they make mistakes; thus Brown loses his innocence. As Goodman Brown gains knowledge, his beliefs and actions begin to change; therefore, his innocence begins to fade away and his life is never the same. Goodman Brown starts his journey, …show more content…

His family (just like anyone else’s) gives him his background and defines who he is; therefore, when the devil shows that even they sin Brown is distraught. Though Brown does not want to, he starts to believe the devil when he says, “I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans” (Hawthorne 2). In the previous quote it shows that not only his family but also others have followed him, so Brown will have to accept it or let it take over his life. Brown chooses the latter of the two. At this point Brown has lost his faith and is following the devil fully. He is missing his innocence because he is now knowingly choosing the path to destruction. Continuing he sees yet more horrible things then he could imagine have been going on around him: girls killing their children, women poisoning their husbands, and boys killing their fathers. Brown cried, “Faith! Faith!” ... “look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one” (Hawthorne7). In essence, this quote shows that Brown does not like where he is and wants to leave because he dislikes what he is

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Brown has an errand to attend to and Faith doesn 't want him to go. Faith is afraid of the dark and she thinks something bad will happen to her. Brown tells her to pray and go to bed. Brown has no fear and Faith is afraid at this moment. Brown walks into the forest and meets an Old Man, who looks remarkably like Brown.

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Passage #1 This quote shows a turning point in the story. The devil has been using methods of persuasion to make Young Goodman Brown feel isolated. Once he sees his catechism teacher, Goody Cloyse, he begins to feel isolated in the world which the devil has entrapped him in. In addition, he feels frightened because the devil has had influence on him indirectly through Goody Cloyse.

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(pg. 453)” Young Goodman Brown is a man living in the puritan era who has a wife and family, and is deep in his Christian faith. Young Goodman Brown lived in a town that is all connected to through the local church. Early in the story Young Goodman brown would set out to meet a person who would later be labeled as the devil by one of the locals. Young Goodman brown would have a vision of everyone in his community that would show him their wicked sins.

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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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