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Young Goodman Brown Research Paper

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Truth. A word, a concept, a reality that philosophers and all humans have been striving to understand. Ancient Greek philosopher Amelius thought that truth was the “bringing of what was previously hidden into the open” and he believed that this access to truth is in all humans and is part of what makes up humans. Nathaniel Hawthorne in his short story Young Goodman Brown delves into a different aspect of human nature; there is some evil in everyone. This allows Young Goodman Brown to be faced with problems many people deal with in one's life. Young Goodman Brown has an obligation to his faith but the Devil pulls him away from his faith, revealing that without beliefs one grows isolated and misanthropical. Brown is a battle for his soul that …show more content…

When Goodman Brown witness even more people whom he thought were holy wondering in the deep part of the woods he cried out to the heavens, “‘I will yet stand firm against the devil!’ cried Goodman Brown” (5). Even though he was exposed to more evil and to the dark side of his village people, Brown turned and opposed the evil around him. The wickedness in the Minister and the Deacon made him grow wary of other people. The devil never stopped trying to get Young Goodman Brown. When he got near the ceremony he was sized and brought in, “But he had no power to retreat one step, nor to resist, even in thought, when the minister and good old Deacon Gookin seized his arms, and led him to the blazing rock” (7). This only deeped Goodman Brown’s misanthropy by having people he thought were holy men commit acts for the devil. Consequently when the night was over Brown still was unfaithful to mankind, “when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled, and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at this wife, and turned away” (8). He didn’t even trust his wife: Faith. The battle to stay a pristine Puritan and commit acts of evil and sin with the devil where too much for Goodman Brown. He tore himself asunder from society and became a sad man. Brown had nothing to anchor himself too; he was no longer a Christian

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Charles Young was born in 1864 to Gabriel Young and Arminta Bruen in Kentucky Charles Young attended an all-white high school in Ripley, the only one there who was Afro-American, He graduated in 1880. He then taught school for several years in the new black high school that was opened in his town. In 1903, Young served as captain of a black company.

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“On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he would not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain. (pg. 456)” Brown would grow with the idea that all his loved ones are “sinful” and he would be somewhat of a recluse, by setting himself apart from the community, family, and church. The story states that he would die this way, and hardly anyone would come to his grave. We see that with Young Goodman Brown, even though he was sound in his faith, he lost what it is that made him feel free.

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Have you ever wondered if your beliefs are your own, or if you have been indoctrinated by your parents? Just like some parents make their children go to church every Sunday, John Brown’s parents raised him to have a strong hatred of slavery. Sometimes indoctrination is positive. John Brown was an abolitionist who believe, unlike many other, that slavery was evil. John brown was born on May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut.

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In the text, “Young Goodman Brown”, Brown’s gloom and withdrawal is justified by the shocking events in the forest. This is because, during his time in the forest, be bears witness to supernatural events in which he sees that many people he knows from the path of god are in reality on the path of the devil. For Brown to be justified in his feelings, the events in question must be deemed events that were real. To start, when Brown first exited the woods after witnessing the ritual, he heard Deacon Gookin, a man at the ritual, praying.

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As a consequence of Young Goodman Brown’s decision to walk in sin with the devil, he loses faith in his entire world.

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Sin is inevitable. Every person sins, one way or another. Sinning is impossible to avoid even with “practice.” “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows readers that. Goodman Brown wants to believe he is a good man, and perhaps he is; but he is tempted by sin all the same.

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But In the same way Brown held steadfast to his decision of not using the staff. In spite of his strength so far once Brown heard Faith’s voice he used the staff for his main source of strength had left him. After Young Goodman Brown’s encounter at the ceremony he changed his outlook on life.

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Through Goodman Brown’s vivid dream while he ventures in the dark forest, we see how he is surrounded by people he had considered faithful. From the minister, to the deacon, Mrs. Cloyse and finally beside him, his last glimpse of faith, his wife Faith. Innocence is simply the lack of guilt. Nathaniel Hawthorne cultivates innocence and purity in this story through Faith. Even in the midst of Mr. Goodman’s struggle and guilty conscience, he struggles whether or not to keep his ‘faith’.

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A certain darkness encompasses each of these stories and helps represent the recurring themes of evil and sin throughout them. In conclusion, “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” are both strongly based in religion, contain symbolism, and share a dark mood. These elements enrich the stories by conveying the important points included in each one. Hawthorne synthesizes these elements in much of his literature, which explains how these stories are beautifully woven together like a well-crafted

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Brown reflect this when returning home from the forest and see Faith in which his reaction was “ But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without greeting” (70). He displays this further by “Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled, and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away.” (72) because his wife caused him to his loss of faith which he displays by not praying publicly or privately showing faith in

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As Brown is walking through the woods, he realizes that it is his wife’s voice Faith. As he agonizingly calls out her name and he earnestly tries to get her to resist temptation and choose the righteous path. There is mention of “Young Goodman Brown seizing Faiths pink ribbons from the air as they were floating away, he then cries out my Faith is gone there is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given" (Hawthorne).

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The desires of humanity often reflect the temptations residing in the heart’s depths. Evil’s lure is a strong pull felt by all, regardless of the appearance put on through the conscious mind. In literature, temptation is explored thoroughly, especially in the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”. “The tale becomes in great part, thus, a record of temptation” (Pualits 578-579). The author of “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804.

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Truth. People use this word almost everyday. And the question “What is truth?” dates back before Galileo, Plato, and Aristotle. People have tried to unpack the meaning of this simple five letter word and yet it has grown and become more complex than ever. There are of course different opinion that people say are truths such as, “I like that color.”

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