How Young Goodman Brown Became Old Badman Brown Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nineteenth-century American writer of the Romantic Movement. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804, he was one of those rare writers who drew critical acclaim during his lifetime. Hawthorne used Salem as a setting for most of his stories, such as The Scarlet Letter, The Blithedale Romance, and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. Today, readers still appreciate Hawthornes work for its storytelling qualities and for the moral and theological questions it raises. Nathaniel Hawthornes work is typically fraught with symbolism, much of it deriving from his Puritan ancestry; relatives of his were judges in the Salem witchcraft trials. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is an allegory whose characters play a major role in conveying the†¦show more content†¦Likewise, he will be left alone afterwards when he tries to retrieve it/her during his journey. Author Terence Martin speculates that Goodman Browns journey into the forest is best defined as a kind of â₠¬Å"general, indeterminate allegory, representing mans irrational drive to leave faith, home, and security temporarily behind, for whatever reason, to take a chance with one more errand onto the wilder shores of experience† (Martin 92). nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It should not escape attention that Goodman Browns wife, a lighthearted naive woman, has the name of Faith. Faith is by no means an unusual womans name, but it is significant in this story that she is presented to us first as a very young bride with pink ribbons in her hair--almost like a child (1264). This young woman is filled with hidden sin, yet she is said to be Godly. Because Faith was so honest and Godly, Young Goodman Brown put all of his faith in her, which made her the best of his worst enemies. Faith’s ribbon is a description of her personality or her inner-self. The pink ribbon that Faith wears is a symbol of purity. Faith’s ribbon is found in the evil forest when Brown awakes, and that’s when Faith is really seen as an unclear person. Faith is also said to have forsaken not only against Goodman Brown but also against God because she gave in to the likes of the devil. The ribbons provide continuity between faith as an ideal of a Puritan woman and as a sinner. Her pinkShow MoreRelatedWhere Not To Base Your Faith: Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1424 Words   |  6 Pagesfaith, he said, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the story Young Goodman Brown. The definition of faith according to Merriam-Webster.com is, â€Å"Strong beliefRead MoreAmbiguity And Symbolism In Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1952 Words   |  8 Pagespeople. The short story called Young Goodman Brown is a good example of how people are trapped in this war and gives a somewhat description of what it could be like in a losing fight against evil. The message of the story is that everyone has a dark nature in them somewhere, whether it can be triggered by something traumatic, or by their surroundings as they grew up to adulthood from only knowing that. The premise of the story is mostly about how Goodman Brown leaves Salem village to undergo