As the Reverend, he was the one to guide people with religion and everyone in the small-town looks up to him. Throughout the play, Reverend Brown was shown as aggressive and demanding with religion. In the beginning of the second act of Inherit the Wind, he was leading the prayer meeting. As it ends, he cursed and casted out Cates as a sinner and later did the same to his own daughter, Rachel Brown. The message that can be understood is that religion is strict or harsh, as well as this is the only way religion is enforced. This is not true because there is always more than just one way religion can be interpreted. While it was not shown in Reverend Brown 's’ character, most religions actually promote and encourage forgiveness and mercy. For instance, in the Bible, it says, “Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32). Reverend Brown was a very religious man who takes his job too seriously and extreme. Verses like Ephesians 4: 31-32, which insist that people be more forgiving, were not emphasised when the Reverend was preaching to the town. The townsfolk were very religious, so the Reverend easily persuaded them to
Until somewhat recently women were considered inferior to men. Women could not work and were wholly dependent upon a man. One of the biggest leaps forward in equality was the Enlightenment era. The Enlightenment encouraged rational thought and equality for all. “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” written by Benjamin Franklin is one of the most influential writings in American gender enlightenment especially in social, monetary and religious issues.
The relationship between Pearl and Reverend Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is one that both intrigues the reader and keeps them wanting to find out more. At the beginning of the story nothing is very clear about Pearl’s father but as you read on there are many cues that lead you to Reverend Dimmesdale, the pastor of the church where Pearl’s mother, Hester Prynne, was a member. Through all the twists and turns there are a few things that stick out in the readers mind such as the progression of their relationship, the behavior and psychology of Pearl and how the novel could be seen as a story almost all about Pearl.
On that fateful night in the woods Brown experiences a gathering of evil that would change his perception of life and religion. This event, while it may have been a dream, was real enough to Brown that it would replace any joy in his life with gloom for the rest of his years. Knowing the truth that all of his neighbors and friends were satanic worshipers was certainly justification enough for his withdrawal and
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, false allegations of witchcraft initiates a widespread witch hunt throughout Salem, Massachusetts during 1692. One of the play’s most prominent characters is Reverend John Hale. Reverend Hale is a Puritan minister from Beverly, Massachusetts with a superior knowledge about witchcraft. Mr. Hale journeys to Salem in order to eliminate any sorcery occurring within the town. Hale’s arrival leads to the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials, a series of hearings to investigate the witchcraft accusations. Reverend Hale’s dialogue, stage directions, and other people’s perceptions of him reveal a man characterized by self-importance; furthermore, his enthusiasm for the witch trials in the beginning and his misguided
American currencies, specifically coins, have two sides: a head and a tail. The head and tail are different, yet they are still part of the same coin. Two American authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, represent two sides of the same coin: Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism swept through America as a new worldview in the 1900’s. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that asserts the primacy of the spiritual and transcendental over the material, that deals with aspects of nature. Men committed their lives to the study of nature. Nature became a religion. Emerson, a transcendental optimist, claimed that each person is inherently good. Hawthorne, a transcendental pessimist, demanded that man was corrupt and inherently evil. Emerson
Content: Miller is stating that the townspeople typically have respect for other members of society who have spent a considerable amount of time in Salem. However, many of the villagers did not have that type of advantage, and as a result, people were constantly accusing each other which undoubtedly paved the way for the Salem Witch Trials to take place.
When Goodman Brown is being tempted to go to the witches Sabbath, we see even those who must be the most holy people of the town on their way to the Sabbath, making Goody Cloyse “a marvel, truly, that [she] should be so far in the wilderness at nightfall” (Hawthorne 3). The devil uses this person, especially to try to push Brown over the edge into temptation. Much like there is a ‘Faith’ keeping a person on the mindset of goodness and pureness, there are aspects of life drawing us away from the goodness. Temptation is everywhere and the goal of temptation is to lead you away from purity to the evil. This temptation is often ignored or denied in an attempt to not fall into it. Goodman Brown’s “prolonged resistance is a denial of the wishes that are the source of his projections” (Levy 4). After seeing all the people falling into sin before him, Brown finds difficulty not to. Humanity struggles with this everyday. Humans will have a person or people highly regarded, but when the person or those people fail, they will lose the faith in humanity and give up by falling into the temptation. “Despite his resistance to the ceremony in the woods, Young Goodman Brown is ultimately initiated into the evil that lurks within the villagers...” (Young Goodman Brown 1). Everyone held up on a faith’s and innocence’s pedestal have also fallen into the trap of temptation. Everyone falls into the sin and temptation placed before them. There is not a single truly perfect person in the world, but people do not always initially realize this. Humanity will consciously resist all evil coming their way, while the subconscious craves it. The devil in the story is the subconscious and innate desires of humanity because he reveals that, “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race” (Hawthorne 8). Once a person comes to the realization of his or her own personal
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
Harriet Ann Jacobs known to the public as Linda Brent and Frederick Douglass both were the victims of slavery and succeed to escape its clutches. As they possessed the skill of literateness, after becoming free members of the American society, they decided to write down their experiences of living as slaves to share what they had witnessed. Consequently, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” is the fruit of Linda Brent’s labor, and Frederic Douglass delivered his testimony in “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”. Additionally, this is not the point where their similarities diminish. They were also involved into abolitionist movement and work as social reformers which gained them recognition and esteem amid Northerners. However, it is crucial to acknowledge how much resemblance their ordeals included before the liberation in terms of gender
"There is no one righteous, not even one.” This is the theme present throughout the short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The minister's black veil”. Nathaniel Hawthorne crafts two stories that not only look at the characters in the stories, but also forces the reader to examine human nature and their own self-righteousness; whether it be from the perspective of Goodman Brown or the townspeople of Salem. Nathaniel Hawthorne offers a peek behind the black veil that everyone wears.
(Q) How could the leaders of the Puritans look at this case and think that their religion or their lifestyle is healthy for the people? Winthrop 's ideology is basically telling the people that no matter what good deeds you do it 'll never be good enough for God. On the other hand this guilt is basically what built America. Why else would the Puritans be working so hard to make a functional city (besides the Queen 's authority and the promise of freedom of religion) they thought that they were the "chosen ones" by God and that the city upon a hill was the promise land. But was it worth all the constant fear and anxiety that they would be burning in a pit of flames? And what would America be like without this guilt?
People tend to be judged by how others perceive them to be, rather than how they actually are. This statement is shown in the play, Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. One example from the play in which this type of unfair judgement is displayed is when the news of Henry Drummond being the defense attorney for Bert Cates was announced. “Henry Drummond, the agnostic… A vicious, godless man… Henry Drummond is an agent of darkness. We won’t let him in the town… God didn’t make him, that he is a creature of the Devil, perhaps even the Devil himself.” (27-28). This shows an example of Reverend Brown judging Henry Drummond as an evil man who is even comparable to the Devil, despite the fact that he doesn’t truly know him and
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.
With people basing what they believe as their own individuality on the expectations and opinions, there is no individuality. This is how deceptive society can be to an individual, causing someone to believe that they are different when in reality, they are altering their differences to fit the expectations of others. Similarly in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character bases his faith on the faith and expectations of others. By basing his faith on others expectations he was conforming to societal expectation. In this instance the character’s faith symbolizes