Use Of Allegory In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

The pink ribbons faith puts in her cap are supposed to represent purity. The color pink relates to innocence and youth. Hawthorne speaks on Faith’s ribbons multiple times at the beginning of the story making her seem full of life and happiness. Hawthorne re-introduces the ribbons when Goodman Brown is in the forest. When Faith’s pink ribbon falls down from the sky, Goodman Brown perceives it as a sign that she has fallen into the realm of the devil.

Although he blames his evil and hypocrisy on others he leaves his faith first. He develops this thought in the allegory and in many symbols, particularly the sunset, the walking stick, and the path. When Goodman Brown say, "Of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee," he is saying in other words that he needs to be away from his wife Faith that night. “of all nights in the yea”' means possibly that he is home most other nights and that tonight is significant because he has something important to do away from

(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.

The Salem village has tied every resident together, making them believing each other, but because of such peaceful crib, which resulted in the baby’s, Goodman Brown’s insanity. Goodman Brown has an innocent heart, like a baby, believing that all his friends and families, such as his father, grandfather, and his wife, are good humans instead of evil or involved in any evil events. Though those are plainly Brown’s ideals, as the story goes on, Brown’s ideals were destroyed one after another. The Salem village seemed to be a friendly village, because Brown’s relationships and impressions with others, such as the minister of Salem and Deacon Gookin, were quite good.

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

Similarities of “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” are two short stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that share many similarities. In his writings, Hawthorne displays a fascination with the Puritanical beliefs and ideals associated with sin and wickedness. Such ideals serve as a common thread that weaves the stories together by using a religious base, symbolism, and a dark mood. First, Hawthorne’s meticulous usage of religion is the foundation of both stories.

Faith represents the conflict as a symbol of Goodman Brown’s faith. He finds Faith’s ribbon in the woods, which symbolizes the fact that she was in the woods as well and losing her purity. The outcome of the novel is hinted at when Faith is seen in the “Devil’s” arms. “[T]he wretched man beheld his Faith” portrays the fact that his faith is now gone and he has nothing left to hope

I founded interesting that the author noticed that the Salem village is the center of the witchcraft misbelief. By everything the evil noted in Goodman Brown; it makes sense that Hawthorne would use a Salem village for this story. In my reflection about the story, I realize that is a place where the events continuously happened because it has a different incidents or devices that are widely found in the literature and recognized as motifs appear. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "

Coincidentally enough, not only does Goodman Brown struggle to hold on to his wife but his Christian faith as well while traveling the streets of a Salem village. The author mentions Faith’s pink ribbon in her cap throughout the story instilling her character with joy. Pink ribbons symbolize

The analysis you did of "Young Goodman Brown" was similar to what I interpreted. I thought the pagan undertones in the story were significant because the story took place in Salem which is where the witch trials took place. Brown is told by his "fellow traveler" that his grandfather persecuted a Quaker woman and his father set fire to an Indian village. Brown responds to that news by saying, "We are a people of prayer and good works, to boot, and abide no such wickedness" (388). Brown 's attitude towards those who are different can be heard when he tells himself "There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree" (387).

During his journey of sin, Young Goodman Brown and the devil come upon Goody Cloyse, Young Goodman Brown's catechism teacher, and, still believing that she is a “pious and exemplary dame” Goodman Brown tries to stay away from the woman by pleading with the devil “I shall take a cut through the woods… being a stranger to you, she might ask whom I was consorting with” (3). Because of Young Goodman Brown’s beliefs of her innocence, it is even more jolting to him when she “knows her old friend,” the devil, and speaks about stolen broomsticks, recipes including “the juice of smallage and cinquefoil and wolf’s-bane,” and even the same devilish meeting that Young Goodman Brown and his accomplice are to attend (3). With signs that all point to sin and witchcraft, Young Goodman Brown’s shock in saying “That old woman taught me my catechism” had “a world of meaning” as he cannot possibly believe that a woman known to be so holy and righteous in the community could be so evil within. As Goodman Brown moves past the shock of Goody Cloyse’s actions, he is exposed to the sins of the holiest members of their Puritan community, the minister and Deacon Gookin. While Goodman Brown shamefully “[conceals] himself within the verge of the forest… he recognized the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin” who speak of the same evil “meeting” as Goody Cloyse and even remark that “several of the Indian powwows” will even be present (4,5).

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.

He displays an interesting perspective on the puritan society that gives a more in depth idea of what was happening. The overall point of the text is to give an accurate representation of the Puritan society, Hawthorne uses

Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife, and her ribbon represent the goodness and innocence of people. The corrupt authority figures of Brown’s community shows that even the most trusted and pious figures will succumb to immoral desires. The forest in Brown’s dream represents the road to detraction and corruption as we follow his transformation

My broomstick hath strangely disappeared, stolen, as I suspect, by that unhanged witch, Goody Cory, and that, too, when I was all anointed with the juice of smallage and cinque-foil and wolf's bane–”” (3) She started speaking of a recipe as if the man had been her friend for years. Goodman Brown could not believe that a woman of the church would follow the devil. This was the same woman who taught him his catechism. This point was when Brown did not want to continue, wishing to go back to his