Young Goodman Brown Essay(Symbolism) - 1543 Words

IBEnglish III 13 September 2011 â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† Analysis One of the factors that shaped the New World was religion; it was a pillar in the fledgling society and a reason for migration for so many Europeans. Puritanism was a major belief system that held strongly throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a nineteenth century American novelist and short story writer, composed the story of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† which takes place in Salem. All Puritans were to take a journey which was supposed to lead them to a conversion experience. This journey takes them through the spiritual heart. It is intended for self – examination; the elimination of the three vices: boredom, vice, and†¦show more content†¦Young Goodman Brown, who thought so highly of himself and his family, is now losing his moral grounds. When he takes the staff that is his last gesture to show that he is decaying internally; he accepts whatever conse quences that come with it and taking the stick was done consciously. In addition to that, the staff also progress his journey and makes him go down the road faster. This is symbolic of when a Christian decides to go down the wrong road by losing their faith, the descent is faster. Without faith there to protect him he has become very wild; he does not realize how faith has protected him and that losing it one is only becoming closer to the devil. The acceptance of the stick after he loss his faith, was the acceptance of the devil and all that comes with the darkness and sin of the world. Young Goodman Brown’s travels through the uncharted forests were aided by a travel guide, Old Goodman Brown. Old Goodman Brown is said to have looked like Young Goodman Brown except older. Initially the older man, who is symbolic of the devil, is amiable toward the travel, but his persistence to get Young Goodman Brown to go deeper into the forest, spikes one to believe that he has an ulteri or motive. Hawthorne’s usage of the old man transmits the message that the devil can appear in any form. The risk that Goodman Brown takes with walking down the same road is that he is becoming desensitized and growing apart from his faith at the hands ofShow MoreRelated The Symbolism of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay2725 Words   |  11 PagesThe Symbolism of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† shows the reader the author’s power as a symbolist.    Frederick C. Crews in â€Å"The Logic of Compulsion in ‘Roger Malvin’s Burial’† explores the symbology that prevails in Hawthorne’s best short stories:    . . . 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