Annotated Bibliography Of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

“Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is meant to hold a larger truth about society. This story is comprised of many different symbols that work together to make that truth all the more clear to the reader. Hawthorne will accentuate the fact that faith is a choice, and each individual faces a struggle whether or not to accept faith as a part of who they are. He uses each character and event in the story as a representation of different influences that people are impacted by in the process of making a decision on faith.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was known for his many ways of writing including hidden messages, allegory meanings and symbolism. Nathaniel also brought back Puritan style writing by discussing religion as a main focus in his texts with everyday people good or bad, also known as religious symbolism. In “Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolically illustrates the dark and bright sides of characters throughout the story in order to teach the moral lesson of man and the conflict within, the hidden evil among everyone represented in the mysterious man and Goody Cloyse, Goodman's unknown past, and his unknown future with his wife.

Young Goodman Brown is a story that is open to a different interpretation by each reader. Its use of symbolism in almost every object in the story create multiple meanings and themes to the story, which adds an abundance of detail. The character Faith plays a huge role in the story, representing innocence, faith, and anticipation of the upcoming events. The endless examples of symbolism display the significance of Faith’s character, which is the main reason for the story’s rapid events and despondent

In the exposition, Goodman Brown becomes doubtful of his ancestors, but he still trusts Faith and the Puritans. Firstly, he shows faith in God and his wife. Goodman Brown prompts Faith to pray before sleeping: “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (Hawthorne 1). This quote characterizes Goodman Brown as a pious and incredulous young man because he wishes that God will protect Faith from harm. Then, Goodman Brown loses his certainty for his forefathers. When the old traveler tells him the truth, he exclaims in disbelief, “Can this be so?” (Hawthorne 4). In other words, Goodman Brown questions the faithfulness of his ancestors whom he admires. Although he starts to doubt his forefathers, Faith keeps him holy and innocent.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, the author uses themes of suspense and mystery to keep readers entertained. Throughout the story from beginning to end, Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism that make the story what it is. The most important of all symbols is his dying faith. The author makes it very clear that faith should be of all importance to any man or women, without faith your outlook on the world will be turned around and full of skepticism and doubt. Goodman Brown’s faith began to be compromised and destroyed the second he stepped foot into the woods.

Discovering who one is a journey that can last a lifetime. One doesn 't just wake up one morning with sudden understanding of who they are; no that realization comes with ties that are very deeply interwoven with what one owns. You start building your own identity upon the foundation of your background, your type of lifestyle and the success of your family. The person you are blossoming is very heavily dependent on the way you view ownership whether you let it define you or whether you understand that it builds you but doesn 't define you. Your self identity is a correlation between discovering who you are and understanding the importance of owning intangible as well as tangible items responsibly.

The Danger of A Walk With the Devil: The Consequence of Sin and Guilt in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”

Young Goodman Brown could have made a different decision by choosing not to go into the forest. Instead of making the choice to enter the forest, he could have chosen to follow the good path avoiding the evil path. If he had gone down a different path it would have prevented him from losing his belief, religion, and faith he had in God. By Brown going into the wicked forest, he changed as a person because he did not come out the same. After going into the forest Brown realized the world was evil and couldn’t see the good in anything no longer. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name” (Hawthorne, 1835, 319). If he stayed out of the forest he would have still had his religion and seen the good in people and things while living on Earth. While inside the forest he became confused, lost, and doubtful over his life. Brown lost the innocence that he once had and gain new awareness to things that he once couldn’t see

Have you ever thought about the concept of freedom? Freedom is a point of perspective and not a point of a state of being. This can be seen in the story comparison in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown and Phillis Wheatley’s To the University of Cambridge, in New-England. You take Yong Goodman Brown, a man living in an area and time where it is deeply rooted in their Christian beliefs. Then you have Phillis Wheatley who is an African slave who is writing to privileged white men in Cambridge. Both are planted firmly in their Christian faith and the difference is one of them is a slave, and the other one is a free man with a wife and family. Yet, after reading Young Goodman Brown, it seems that only one of them

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author uses mystery and suspense to hold the attention of the reader. One of the most obvious questions is if these events are actually real or if they are all a dream. However, whether the events are imaginary or reality, they have the same impact on Brown’s life whether they took place, or were just a twisted nightmare. Hawthorne shows that a strong faith is the greatest asset of a man or woman, and when that faith is compromised, the effects of this can cause one to be filled with doubt and cynicism toward the rest of the world. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory about a man who has lost his faith due to the fact that he has based his faith on the people

Brown shows innocence and corruptibility as he vacillates between believing in the inherent goodness of the people around him and believing that the devil has taken over the minds of all people he loves “SparkNote on Young Goodman Brown.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

The significance of the title is to demonstrate that the protagonist is a good person. That he wouldn’t do any actions to harm anyone in which is seen when he was having second thoughts of leaving his wife, Faith for the night by the look of her troubled face. Perhaps, the author named the story “Young Goodman Brown” in order to foreshadow his actions. The significance of his wife’s name is to show that there is still some faith and goodness in him left to overcome any negative influences. However, he chose to follow the negativity which affected his life drastically by having a “realistic dream” about a witch meeting where his wife, Faith was presented demonstrating how Goodman left his innocence behind for deviltry. Faith wants to motivate

The tone used in “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was serious, but hopeful at the same time. While “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, was more sharp. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses

A mysterious story of good versus evil can be found in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”. Allegory and symbolism are the major literary devices used and the story is full of hidden meanings. The reader must then decode them in order to fully understand the story. I feel that writers use allegory and symbolism in subjects such as moral, philosophical, and religious issues because it is a creative, easy way to allow the reader to understand the meaning, without making a blatant statement. The whole story of “Young Goodman Brown”, is centered on religious meanings and displays the changes in his faith from being strong, to doubt and internal turmoil, and then changes to cynicism.

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. As a Puritan man married to “Faith”, his choice to continue into the unknown leads him to contemplate and create new opinions of his religion. This scene also shows many instances of symbolism that refer to the devil and sinning. Goodman Brown encountering the old man is significant in his transformation because it displays his crucial decision that leads