ipl-logo

Young Goodman Brown Rhetorical Analysis

675 Words3 Pages

For many years, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing of “Young Goodman Brown” has been used frequently when discussing the topic of a moral allegory. This story is both a literal and metaphorical journey of a man who is walking to a spiritual crisis, with the devil himself. The use of symbolism and imagery help to set the tone for the reader, when going along with Goodman Brown on his “soul-searching” journey. Herman Melville once wrote that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” has only been improving over time. He said “like wine, was only improving in flavor and body.” This story leads to modern thinkers. It teaches the readers and students to find a deeper meaning, and go beyond the literal meaning. Goodman Brown investigates man’s inborn …show more content…

The beauty of reading is, everyone, using the same words, is able to form a picture in their mind of the characters, setting, weather, etc without a picture being on the page. Imagery is a very powerful and essential writing tool. Nathaniel Hawthorne robustly used words that helped to not only read the text, but also see the text. Throughout the text, Nathaniel Hawthorne frequently used words like sunset, night, darkness, nightfall, and midnight to enforce the image. When one thinks of these words, one immediately thinks of daytime turning into night time, dark, gloomy, eerie, quiet, or even unknown. This was exactly how Young Goodman Brown felt along his journey in trying to find his pure inner self. His journey to find his inner self, started right in the beginning, “Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem Village. He was confused, he didn’t know where he was, and he felt like he was getting taken over by the “bad side”. The devils took him in and tried to change his beliefs. When the reader envisions the short text, they probably have a spooky Halloween-like vision in their mind. When Nathaniel Hawthorne wanted the reader to know that Goodman Brown was going back to his home, with his wife Faith and all of the Puritan people, he used words like sunshine and morning. Both of these words portray an image of light and happiness. Everything is luminous in the daylight. Young Goodman Brown is now able to understand who he really is, and what his objective is in the rest of his

Show More
Related
790 Words | 4 Pages

“Young Goodman Brown.” : An Annotated Bibliography “Young Goodman Brown” is a story about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Gregory, Leslie. " The Text of Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "Young Goodman Brown". " American Literature Research and Analysis.

Read More
110 Words | 1 Pages

In this quote, Brown argues that by claiming equality and justice for the masses that have been excluded or marginalized, the whole definition of equality could be altered. By recognizing these groups, it does not necessarily mean that they are now being treated with equality, it just means that they are being acknowledged for having a place in society but they are not necessarily important. The left might now recognize groups that have been marginalized for years or even decades, and announce it publicly but this action could just be false rhetoric to persuade others that there is equality for everyone. Therefore, claiming justice or equality is a dangerous action.

Read More
65 Words | 1 Pages

Young Goodman brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne undergoes the hero’s journey, which is a theory by joseph Campbell that involves a hero that goes on an adventure and in a decisive crisis wins a victory and comes home changed and transformed. The hero’s journey undergoes 7 main stages the hero, herald, mentor, threshold guardians, trickster, shapeshifter and shadow. Which the story of young Goodman brown undergoes

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1728 Words | 7 Pages

This talk of devilish acts from people known to Goodman Brown as holier than all causes Goodman Brown great pain and confusion even to the point where he was “ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburdened” from what he had just witnessed (5). In the short time from when Goodman Brown enters the forest, sees Goody Cloyse, and sees the minister and the deacon, his entire life and upbringing is

Read More
1922 Words | 8 Pages

Question 2: In Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, does it matter whether or not the protagonist, Goodman Brown, Dreamt the events in the story? Introduction Hawthorne‘s “Young Goodman Brown” (YGB) is such a richly layered, compelling and compact masterpiece that lends itself to multiple interpretations and dimensions of meaning when read with different approaches. It is all at once: a satirical allegory, a gothic story, a psychological investigation of Hawthorne’s own mind, a historical treatise of American Puritanism, a feminist record of woman’s plight in Puritan Times, a condensed dispensation of Hawthorne’s philosophical and religious beliefs and also a vent for his own personal catharsis.

Read More
1488 Words | 6 Pages

Moonlight is representative of the truth of reality and is symbolically shining the truth that Daisy doesn’t have a genuine affection for Gatsby, so the relationship will never come into fruition although Gatsby wants to virtually believes in a false reality. When Tom declares that “the sun 's getting colder every year,” this categorizes the sun in the same class because a cold sun emits coldness, so both the sun and the moon will emit the cold truth contrary to the false American Dream

Read More
491 Words | 2 Pages

In Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" it can be described as a moral allegory that illustrates the puritan doctrine of inherent depravity as the Brown. He tests his faith by entering the forest primeval by joining the man "of grave and decent attire" for an evening in the wilderness. It is apparent the symbols are of a religious nature. Hawthorne wrote in the time period known as the Romantic Period. Hawthorne's rejection of the Puritan belief system is the primary message of this story.

Read More
607 Words | 3 Pages

The story Young Goodman Brown was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main character of the story is Goodman Brown who is a very young innocent guy and also religious. The story talks about Brown who went out night to a dark ugly forest and came across and face many evil courses like the devil, witch, the staff and the creepy gray clouds. Evil can mean sins, drugs, and cruel and untruthful human beings. No one can avoid sinning and escape evil because there is evil everywhere and there is no one that cannot escape from evil.

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

For example, Hawthorne uses the change from dark to light to illustrate a change in Hester when she removes her cap along with the letter in chapter eighteen. Previously, all of Hester’s ‘life’ or youth had been taken away, but the light shining down in the forest as she removes the letter and her cap seem to reverse, leaving her the beautiful woman she was before her sin. The forest is described as, “…with a sudden

Read More
352 Words | 2 Pages

When Goodman Brown returns from the forest, Hawthorne states, “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.” Goodman Brown realizes that his happiness is gone and becomes wary of those around him.

Read More
464 Words | 2 Pages

This reference keeps on supporting the thought of light being great and dull being detestable. As the laborers retreat into the light incredible the dim caverns, they feel alleviation from their torment. Marlow likewise calls these individuals "dark shadows of ailment and starvation. " This quote strengthens the thought that blacks and the dull pictures they anticipate are uncouth and nothing to be longing

Read More
1297 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

The story of Young Goodman Brown is the story of a tale about the main character becoming aware of the hypocrisy of his faith as a Puritan. Through his travels in the woods at night, he unveils the truths, or what he believes as truths, about his wife Faith, neighbors, and fellow Christians. By the end, Brown loses all trust in his Faith, both literally and spiritually, and refuses to see any good in the world. The beginning scene where Goodman Brown meets the old man has the most significance in the story’s resolution. This is where his mistrust starts to form and where he experiences his first temptations to sin.

Read More
1348 Words | 6 Pages

Hawthorne as a result of his Puritan ancestry was a man obsessed with morality and the nature of man, and this comes across in his work. In “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” “Young Goodman Brown,” and “The Birthmark” Hawthorne’s writing is characterized by his prominent use of ambiguity and symbolism as a way to express his ideas regarding morality and the actions of man. Hawthorne uses ambiguity in many ways in his stories. One of these is through the utilization of in medias res and beginning a story without giving qualification for the actions of characters, or even background on the characters themselves. In “Young Goodman Brown” the story begins with Goodman Brown saying goodbye to his wife Faith and setting off on his journey into the forest.

Read More

More about Young Goodman Brown Rhetorical Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document