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Young Goodman Brown Character Analysis

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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 …show more content…

His opening phrase in this scene is, “ “Faith kept me back a while” replied a young man, with tremor in his voice” (406). Although Goodman Brown’s conversation with his wife delayed him, he was referring to his faith in Puritan beliefs. In the beginning, he is uneasy with the idea of darkness and the unknown because that is all he has learned is to stay true to God. His faith is all he has known his whole life and deviating away from that ideal lifestyle is a foreign yet tempting idea. This is evident when he says, “ “Too far! Too far!” exclaimed the goodman, unconsciously resuming his walk” (406). His brain knows it is a bad idea to continue forward, but his subconscious is eager to know what lies ahead. Brown is experiencing his first real conflict of the story with accepting temptation and the battle between his faith and

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“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.

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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.”

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Once Young Goodman Brown is in the woods, he comes across his innocent Faith’s symbolic ribbon of innocence, it “fluttered down, through the air and caught on a branch of a tree. A young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon. ‘My Faith is gone! There is no good on Earth!’” is Goodman’s last call out to his dear Faith as he realizes that there truly cannot be a person that is so pure on this cruel earth, As for Connie, she yells out at Arnold “Shut up!

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(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.

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Cheating and murdering Indians. He also reveals the true nature of the townspeople to Young Goodman Brown . No mortal would know this kind of information. 2.How does Goodman Brown view his actions in relation to his family history? How does his companion respond to Brown's claims about his family?

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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

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“There is no good on earth… Come, devil! For to thee is this world given.” (Hawthorne). Goodman's wife is his actual faith which is where the symbolism happened and with his faith gone there is no hope for the world. The symbolism that is used through is the wife who is named faith, as she is the most pure hearted person, and without her he feels as if there is no hope.

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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.

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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

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In “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown is naïve. At first, he is stuck on the idea that everyone is good but still chooses to meet with the devil in the forest out of curiosity. He knows that the devil is evil and a bad person, but feels as long as he clings to Faith once he gets home he will be safe. Goodman Brown encounters several people that he knows while on his walk in the

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The setting appears to symbolize the world outside Puritan Salem, and thus, outside Goodman Brown’s capacity. The forest’s ambience triggers his acknowledgment of the true portrayal of life, embodying his fears and suspicions of what truly stands out of the norm. The path Goodman Brown journeys upon not only represents an embodiment of his fears and angst, but also as a passage of unavoidable sin and duality that later becomes the epitome of his pride’s destruction and ultimate recognition of the nature of life. During his solitary expedition through the woods, Goodman Brown also faces numerous Puritan citizens whom he originally assumes to be solely pure, such as Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin. He later realizes that the journey he has commenced upon is a ceremonial form of a sinful congregation; by encountering his fellow citizens, he fully acknowledges the nature of life.

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The Devil himself appears in the story, which is customarily a negative element in a story. It is still negative in “Young Goodman Brown”, however, the Devil is likened unto Brown’s father. This conflicts readers, as fathers are usually strong moral figures. Readers are also predisposed to highly approve of the character Faith with her pink ribbons and submissive personality. Faith becomes a symbol of hope and innocence throughout the story and is Brown’s greatest influence for good.

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Goodman Brown leaves the safety of his home in the town to take a journey through the woods this leads into the faith and reason archetype. Faith is the personification of faith and purity, even in her own name. Goodman Brown’s internal conflict in the story is based on whether to “keep the faith.” In the beginning of the story the struggle is literal, Brown’s wife begs him to stay at home and not venture out into the woods. This decision to leave behind Faith is a metaphor for his thoughts about religion, which he similarly abandons at the end of the story.

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Within the short story, Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are themes of sin, evil and faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne has not only written this short story. He has written other short stories called, The Minister’s Black Veil, and The Scarlet Letter. In Young Goodman Brown, there are problems of faith that arise. As a reader when following the short story, Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown thinks everyone is irreproachable in the beginning.

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Time and time again, Goodman is faced with supernatural events or beings, an element of the Romanticism Era. Straying from the light or appearing naïve also played a big factor in the Romanticism Era. Young Goodman Brown wanting to know a little more about the dark side was Goodman being naïve. He put himself out there and didn’t do the basic day-to-day’s of an, “average,” person.

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