Free College Essays - Allegory and Symbolism in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown :: Young Goodman Brown YGB

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a nineteenth-century American writer of the Romantic Movement. Hawthorne was born is Salem, Massachusetts, and this is the place he used as the setting for some of his works such as The Scarlett Letter, the Blithedale Romance and novel Goodman brown. In writing, Hawthorne was known for his use of illustration and symbolism, which made his stories a joy for everyone to read. Hawthorne was said to be the first American writer who was conscious of the failure of modern man to realize his full susceptibility for moral growth. His stories contain much about the life he knew as a child being brought up in a Puritan society. As Hawthornes writing continued it was filled with the same amount of sin and evil as his first writings. Evil that was revealed through his works. Young Goodman Brown was said to be one of the best stories ever written by Hawthorne (Adams70). The Marble Faun and the Scarlett Letter were some of the other stories written by Hawthorne, and they were said to be Young Goodman Brown grown older. In this selection there is a question of maturity for Goodman Brown and whether he is good or evil. There is also a diversity from childishness to adolescence to maturity. This short story in particular has a feeling of adultery, betrayal, and deception as in some of his other works. It was said by Richard P. Adams that unexampled Goodman Brown was a germ for nearly all his best work that followed (Adams 71). The use of symbolism in young Goodman Brown shows that evil is everywhere, which becomes evident in the conclusion of this short story. Hawthornes works are filled with symbolic elements and allegorical elements. Young Goodman Brown deals mostly with conventional allegorical elements, such as Young Goodman Brown and Faith. In writing his short stories or novels he based their depiction of sin on the fact that he feels like his father and grandpa committed great sins. There are two main characters in this short story, Faith and Young Goodman Brown. Young Goodman Brown is everyman seventeenth-century New England the title as usual giving the clue. He is the son of the Old Adam, and recently wedded to Faith. We must note that every word is significant in the opening reprove Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street of Sale, Village but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a leave of absence kiss with his young w2ife.