Essay/Term paper: Young goodman brown

Essay, term paper, research paper:  College Papers

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

In short stories, I have learned that there is much more than what at
first meets the eye. Almost everything in the story has meaning. All I
have to do is try to find the hints and clues the writer drops and
manage to put them all together. I have to concentrate more than I ever
have so that I can interpret the authors meaning and what he or she
might really be trying to convey in the writing. In "Young Goodman
Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I determined that through diverse
symbolism, Hawthorne writes of a man who in his coming of age learns
that there is a darkness in everyone and upon this coming of knowledge,
he is forever changed.
From the start, Hawthorne describes Goodman Brown as a good Puritan who
is devoted to his wife ^ÑFaith,' whose name he uses like a shield for his
soul. At the beginning of his walk through the woods, Brown runs into
the Devil who tries to convert him; this is shown by the Devil's
offering of the staff to Brown. The Devil goes on to say that Brown's
family has had dealings with evil in the past; examples used are the
Salem witch trials and the killing of Indian non-combatants. This may
be Hawthornes way of dealing with guilt he might have felt over his own
forbears' actions during those times. Brown goes on to say that he
could not bear the shame of betraying his faith while the Devil is
naming people known and respected by Brown to try to show him that it
wouldn't really be that bad if Brown joined the witches' coven. When
Goody Cloyse is encountered, Brown learns how she truly feels about him;
also, Goody Cloyse freely takes up the Devil's staff. Proud of himself
for denying the Devil, while again using his wife's name to strengthen
his resolve, Brown discovers that his respected Minister, Deacon Gookin,
and even the Indians are all servants of the Devil. When Brown learns
that his wife has given into the temptation of the Devil, the Christian
belief he is struggling to keep is shaken from him. "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." This shows that the most important thing in
Christianity, his faith, is lost. Throughout the night, Brown finds out
more than he ever wanted to know about how his fellow Puritan townsmen
have betrayed their faith by giving in to their darker desires, he even
feels his father urging him onward to do the same. All that he learns
in the night is too much for him, and it changes a devoted husband with
bright hopes and a wife whom he loves to a tired, beaten, questioning
and almost faithless man.
Hawthorne uses symbolism to write a story that is open and ambiguous to
interpretation. For myself, I believe it is about Hawthorne himself who
is growing up in a time when many Puritan children are leaving the
Puritan faith. There are many times in the story when he is questioning
his faith by listing the examples of religeous infractions by his
peers. For all this, it is a wonder Hawthorn was not eaten by the
despair and guilt he lets Goodman Brown feel.

Steve Nix