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Young Goodman Brown Research Paper

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Within the short story, Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are themes of sin, evil and faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne has not only written this short story. He has written other short stories called, The Minister’s Black Veil, and The Scarlet Letter. In Young Goodman Brown, there are problems of faith that arise. As a reader when following the short story, Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown thinks everyone is irreproachable in the beginning. As he adventures out and goes on his excursion through the forest. Goodman Brown starts to apprehend that everyone is not who they appear to be. Goodman Brown then ends up listening to the Devil’s locutions and believes them which lead him to not trust anyone anymore. In the New International Bible verse …show more content…

Goodman Brown did not think people were untrustworthy at first. Once, he listened to what the devil had to say, the devil changed his thoughts making them false accusations about the world and humanity. In the Bible of Genesis, it talks about Eve and the serpent represents her curiosity, which leads her into temptation of the tree of knowledge. Goodman Brown’s decision to come into the forest is also motivated by curiosity.The staff represents that the old man is more demon than human. The evil staff leads Goodman Brown into taking it himself heading into a evil and dark path in the forest. This then leads him away from a path of light with Christ. Which ends up blinding Goodman Brown, along his journey through the forest. He then no longer walks in a path of Chris but walks in a path with the devil. In the scholarly article, Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown: An Interpretation, it mentions, “… the Devil’s deluding him with false imaginings in the forest, or showing him a sample of mankind which is truly representative, Young Goodman Brown’s suspicions about the world are not justified ”(D.M

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