...Analysis on “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne There has been much speculation and analysis on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Each and every one has their own opinions about what Hawthorne really meant about this short story, but of course you can tell by their accreditation which source is more likely to be accurate. In “Young Goodman Brown”, the main character, Goodman Brown, experiences a life changing revelation at the beginning of this short story. The experience is a walk through the woods, something that he states his father and father’s father embarked on. This particular journey shapes his life and changes him forever. What is particularly peculiar about this journey is that it goes through the woods at night. And during this time period if you were caught in the woods at night you were considered a Satan worshiper, doing the Devil’s brood, or practicing witchcraft, which meant all the same things during this era. We know Young Goodman Brown is a Puritan based on his belief system, so this experience isn’t one he is looking forward to, but he knows he has to do it. Kind of like getting a shot, you know you have to do it, and it’s good for you, but you are hesitant about doing it. So along the journey he meets with a man that looks similar to him, but older. The man is kind of dark and shady, and he carries a staff that looks like a serpent. So the symbolism there represents that this man is the Devil. Throughout the duration of his journey...
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...Young Goodman Brown Young Goodman Brown embarks on a spiritual journey as he leaves his wife faith behind, she prays for him to be safe. Goodman Brown feels bad for leaving his wife in such a short notice but he insists for he must go to save his faith from evil. They have only been married a few months but he loved his wife dearly. The road that Brown had taken was dark and very lifeless there was not a sole insight. Brown started to image things his mind was playing tricks on him, he constantly kept looking behind him to see if anyone was following him. Brown said to himself “What if the Devil himself be at my very elbow”. As Young Goodman Brown approaches an old tree there was a man seating down by the tree, it was Goodman’s companion he has been waiting for Goodman so they can continue their journey through the woods. The traveler was about Goodman’s height and almost the same in size they also had some resemblance to each other. The traveler walked with a staff that resembled a big black snake. Goodman Brown companion is a friend of the family and fought in Kings Phillips War with Goodman’s grandfather. Brown states he never heard of such tales and told his traveling companion that “we are people of prayer and of good works” says Brown. As they continued on into the forest the run into an old women that Goodman recognizes her name was Goody Cloyse. She was a well respected woman from the village. Brown didn’t want Goody to see him with his companion so brown cut through...
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...Essay #2 Interpretations of Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story of Young Goodman Brown is a story of an impressionable and curious young man who ventured into the forest in Salem, Massachusetts to witness the witches Sabbath. Brown leaves his young bride Faith against her wishes to go on this journey, feeling some guilt as he walked away from her, “Poor little Faith!” thought he, for his heart smote him. “What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand!” (Hawthorne 606). Once in the forest Brown meets the Devil. As Brown and the Devil continue their walk through the woods the Devil tells him stories of his own Father and Grandfather walking this same dark path that Young Goodman Brown has taken. “Good goodman Brown! I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; that’s no trifle to say” (Hawthorne 607). Goodman Brown enters the woods and has many ghostly and confusing experiences that changed his life forever. Brown wasn’t sure when he awoke in the woods if his experience was a dream or if it really happened however; the events that he witnessed changed his life forever. “Be it so if you will. But alas! It was a dream of evil omen for the young goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream”. (Hawthorne 614). Michael Tritt wrote his interpretation of the Hawthorne’s story, “Young Goodman Brown” and The Psychology of Projection...
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...Fiction Essay: Comparison of Setting ENGL 100 Jonathan Jones February 2, 2015 Thesis – Can two completely different stories have similarities in their setting and how the setting was used to support the story? I. Introduction – YGB and The Destructors took place during different time periods and in completely different locations. (Young Goodman Brown (YGB) – Nathanial Hawthorne published 1835, setting 17th century. The Destructors – Graham Greene published 1954 – setting mid 1950s) a. Different time period b. Different country c. Different time of day II. Why does the setting matter? d. Include character impact. e. The setting in both stories makes them believable III. Both stories rely on their settings to support the plot f. YGB – The setting creates a dark atmosphere. Allows the readier to believe there is witch craft happening and the devil is involved g. The Destructors – The setting creates a desolate location, much of a city after war time. The entire plot is based on symbolism and would not be able to occur if the town wasn’t recovering from war. The whole block was bombed, except the one house that the story is about. IV. Conclusion – both stories took place during different era’s, in different countries and had different conflicts. Similarly, the setting of each supported the plot that showcased conflicts true to the time period. Both stories were written by authors that were from the area....
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...Hawthorne’s work. On a personal level, Poe often disagreed with how often Hawthorne used allegory. As a literary element that many people use, Poe was not a fan. He once stated that: “I allude to the strain of allegory which completely overwhelms the greater number of his subjects, and which in some measure interferes with the direct conduct of absolutely all.” (Poe, 1847) It seems as though Poe regarded Hawthorne’s work as works of allegory. To say that this was the only literary element he employed, however, would be false. Throughout history, authors have endeavoured to master other forms of literary elements, to become the master of those elements, and equal to none in them. By comparing “The Cask of Amontillado” with “Young Goodman Brown”, is to study two masters, at odds with their specific forms of writing, but each a master in his own right. Each story shows how two people that can be so far apart on a scale, can use the same literary elements in similar and different ways without compromising their work as a whole. Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is vital in the world of literature. Foreshadowing is always about being subtle. How can an author slip in a clue or help build a story to a dramatic, yet unforeseen conclusion? Foreshadowing in the hands of a master seems to be a piece of elegance and can be so subtle that the reader wonders how he or she missed...
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...Short stories are meant to be short and get to the point fast. All this short stories do that just in different ways. “A&P” by Updikes, Sammy starts as a weak character but then at the end he comes out stronger and with courage to do what he had been wanting to do for a long time. “A Pose for Emily” by Faulkner, Miss. Emily loses her father and is left all alone, she gets company from the delivery boy. “Young Goodman Brown” by Faulkner, he has his mind set at the being that everyone has goodness in them and then at the end when he meets the devil, he learns everyone does not have goodness in them. “A Pair of Tickets” by Amy Tan, Jing-Mei learns she has two sisters and finally goes to China to meet her family. Everyone has weakness and strength,...
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...her breath that she as “Free,” and she kept whispering “Free! Body and soul free!” It was like she was drinking in a elixir of life while the window was open. When she arose, she walked out her room and downstairs to see someone opening up the door, and there stood Spann 2 her husband. When Richards went to reach for Mrs. Mallard, he was too late. The doctors said “she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills.” (Barnet 23-24) In the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown is not only taking an eternal journey but he is also taking an internal journey as well. a journey for one night, as begins his quest down the dark gloomy road in the forest. His internal journey starts when he’s in the forest and begins to look around, afraid of what might be behind each tree, thinking that there might be Indians or even the devil himself lurking there. He soon comes across a man in the road who greets him as if he had been waiting for him. The man offers Goodman Brown the staff that he is holding, saying that...
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...Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife. And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to Goodman Brown. "Dearest heart," whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "please put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeard of herself sometimes. Pray stay with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year." "My love and my Faith," replied young Goodman Brown, "of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou call it, forth and back again, must needs be done between now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married?" "Then God bless you!" said Faith, with the pink ribbons; "and may you find all well when you come back." "Amen!" cried Goodman Brown. "Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee." So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons. ...
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... "Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance, the proving ground of, What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?" In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” setting is the foundation for the events that Goodman Brown experiences. The setting, some details of which may seem unimportant, results in Goodman Brown’s loss of faith near the story’s end. In addition, Hawthorne uses contrasting settings throughout the story, symbolizing the struggles Brown faces on his journey while highlighting the idea that environment can compel people to travel different paths other than the ones they may have chosen. At the outset of the story in Salem, Brown, only three months married, is forced to part ways with his wife, Faith, for the first...
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...it, let alone move it, so it had my friend guide me towards the picnic table to eat dinner. I iced it and iced it, hoping it would help bring the swelling down, but nothing was working. What I neglected to do was to inform my mom about the awful event I had just experienced, expecting my ankle to be fine. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. I was trying to hide what just happened for a little bit longer; I didn’t want to get in trouble or for my mother to be disappointed and mad at me. Young Goodman Brown experienced something similar; he was ashamed of the task he was planning to executed, so he hid behind some nearby bushes in order to avoid having to...
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...complete denial to subtle skepticism to fanatic belief. Nathaniel Hawthorne, one famous author from this time period, uses religious references in many of his stories. More specifically, Hawthorne chose to examine how sin and obsession can isolate an individual from those around him. This separation that Hawthorne’s characters often face causes them to lose everything that was once precious to them. Goodman Brown and Minister Hooper successfully sever themselves from their loved ones and their communities because they can not accept or forgive the sins of others. Any moderately intelligent person understands that no human is infallible. No lack of intelligence exists when referring to Dr. Rappaccini or Dr. Baglioni. Both men have chosen to commit their time to expanding their knowledge. The pursuit of excessive intelligence leads to a man, void of emotion, who will sacrifice his loved ones to achieve greatness. The nightmare that Goodman Brown has about the dark forest creates an illogical paranoia that is soon followed by everlasting solitude. The story begins with Brown leaving his fiancé Faith and making a journey into the wilderness. The task he has set out to accomplish is unknown, but probably immoral....
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...In our town of Dolver, South Carolina everyone new everyone. There were no secrets even though the old southern belief that it was rude to inquire about someone's private business. However people's private business was Mr. Elijah Goodmans job. The editor, writer, owner, reporter, and janitor of The Dolver Times newspaper was a plain man who inherited the Dolver Times from his father and his father before; news was the Goodman's legacy. Mr. Elijah was a plain man, with nothing standing out as odd. He removed his simple hat for the passers by to reveal a head of simple brown hair, starting to grey at the temples; his eyes had the resemblance to river stones, flat and cool, nothing that you would take to long to look at. Whenever anything happened Mr. Goodman was there; never taking notes and never immediately asking questions he could remember everything and he could flawlessly repeat anything he had heard. The town remembers the first story Mr. Goodman ever wrote. 18 years ago when Mr. Goodman was a younger man whose grey...
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...HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY The purpose of a literary analysis essay is to carefully examine and sometimes evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature. As with any analysis, this requires you to break the subject down into its component parts. Examining the different elements of a piece of literature is not an end in itself but rather a process to help you better appreciate and understand the work of literature as a whole. For instance, an analysis of a poem might deal with the different types of images in a poem or with the relationship between the form and content of the work. If you were to analyze (discuss and explain) a play, you might analyze the relationship between a subplot and the main plot, or you might analyze the character flaw of the tragic hero by tracing how it is revealed through the acts of the play. Analyzing a short story might include identifying a particular theme (like the difficulty of making the transition from adolescence to adulthood) and showing how the writer suggests that theme through the point of view from which the story is told; or you might also explain how the main character‟s attitude toward women is revealed through his dialogue and/or actions. REMEMBER: Writing is the sharpened, focused expression of thought and study. As you develop your writing skills, you will also improve your perceptions and increase your critical abilities. Writing ultimately boils down to the development of an idea....
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...Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, Poe and Whitman. Their writings focused on the puritan aspects of their ancestors or of the dark romance and psychological perspectives writers such as Poe and Melville used. However, after the war, this movement began to fade and Realism increased as the choice reading of the people. This was due to multiple events and changes in culture that led to Americans looking for something better to relate to. The first event was the end of the Civil War. The Civil War showed the violent intentions men had towards each other and also showed the vulnerability of men and the nation and how ungodly man actually was. However, Realism did not begin immediately after the Civil War but rather took off in the 1880’s. So what happened in the 1880’s then? The 1880’s saw the major migration of the typical American from the country to the city due to the rise of the industrial revolution and the increase in jobs in manufacturing and more efficient distribution methods. The migration to the city led to a new culture of Americans whose hard work days with long hours left little room for the desire for imagination and symbolism as American Romanticism had...
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...NORTH AMERICAN FICTION BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Before starting our study of American Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know...
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