Brown's Faith In His Fellow Man example essay topic

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 Blithe dale Romance, and "Young Goodman Brown". Today, readers still appreciate Hawthorne's work for its storytelling qualities and for the moral and theological questions it raises. Nathaniel Hawthorne's work is typically fraught with symbolism, much of it deriving from his Puritan ancestry; relatives of his were judges in the Salem witchcraft trials. "Young Goodman Brown" is an allegory whose characters play a major role in conveying the reoccurring theme of sin and retribution.

The short story represents one man's journey to leave his faith, home, and security temporarily behind to take a walk with the devil into a dark forest. The forest is a symbol of the test of strength, courage, and endurance. Aside from "Young Goodman Brown", forests carrying a negative or challenging connotation have been featured in other stories. For example, in the folk tale The "Three Bears", Goldilocks encounters the cottage of the three bears in a forest; in Hansel and Gretel, the children's father takes them off into the forest to abandon them and they have to find their way back out; in Red Riding Hood, the little girl has to travel through the forest to her grandmother's house.

There has always been an association between forests and evil because of its dark and gloomy nature. The forest further goes on to represent evil in "Young Goodman Brown" because Faith asks Goodman Brown not to go into the forest on his mysterious errand. What is his errand? Hawthorne never says, but clearly Goodman Brown has planned for it. He knows that the aim of his journey is less than wholesome, for he feels guilty at leaving Faith on such an errand (1264).

Despite Faiths protest, Brown goes on his quest anyway. Thus, faith was not able to achieve the desired outcome. This means his faith tried least and got the least, for it was apparently weak. When faith is weak, not only it cannot control desires, but also it needs protection, for it could be lost at any time. That was what made faith beg Brown to put off his journey and stay with her that night. Knowing that Faith was troubled with such dreams and thoughts, Brown was disloyal to his faith when he left it / her alone.

Likewise, he will be left alone afterwards when he tries to retrieve it / her during his journey. Author Terence Martin speculates that Goodman Brown's journey into the forest is best defined as a kind of "general, indeterminate allegory, representing man's 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). It should not escape attention that Goodman Brown's wife, a lighthearted naive woman, has the name of Faith. Faith is by no means an unusual woman's 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 pink ribbons symbolize her youth and innocence, and Faith, in turn, symbolizes her husband's lightheartedness at the beginning of the story.

In Christianity and Puritan religion of the time, childlike faith is a good thing. Jesus said, for example, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (Mark 10: 15). Hawthorn's success could partially be attributed to using characters such as Faith, which had deeply rooted religious significance for his target audience of the time. Initially, readers find Faith characterized by wholesomeness and purity. However, as Goodman Brown witnesses the clandestine meeting in the forest and Faith committing herself to the devil, her inner sin is apparent. Another aspect of "Young Goodman Brown" that conveys the theme of sin and retribution is the character that comes to represent the devil.

Never given a formal name, this dark figure is the one that leads Brown into the forest. If this individual is not himself the Devil he is certainly, in disguise, almost identical to him. His staff is described as having a likeness to a great black snake (1265). The staff, which looked like a snake, is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking vast amounts of knowledge.

Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expelled from their paradise. The Devil's staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devil's ceremony which destroys Goodman Brown's faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia. Besides being a big fan of symbolism, Hawthorne was also a frequent user of irony. When Goodman Brown declares that he kept his meeting with the Devil and no longer wishes to continue on their errand, he says that he comes from a race of honest men and good Christians and that his father had never gone on this errand and nor will he.

The Devil is quick to point out, however, that he was with his father and grandfather when they were flogging a woman or burning an Indian village, respectively (1265). These acts are ironic in that they were bad deeds done in the name of good, and it shows that he does not come from good Christians. After his encounter with his catechism teacher, Brown again decides that he will no longer to continue on his errand and rationalizes that just because his teacher was not going to heaven. At this, the Devil tosses Goodman Brown his staff (which will lead him out of his Eden) and leaves him. Goodman Brown begins to think to himself about his situation and his pride in himself begins to build. He applauds himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his minister, and how calm he would sleep in the arms of Faith!

This, also, is ironic because at the end of the story, he cannot even look Faith in the eye, let alone sleep in her arms; he also learns that his minister is a part of the satanic underground society. Again, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to convey the theme of sin and retribution in the conflict between the devil and Brown. After being exposed to the truth by the dark figured man, Brown acquires many of the attributes previously associated with the devil. For example, "he flew, among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy" (1269). Here, Goodman Brown loses all of his inhibitions and begins to laugh insanely. He takes hold of the staff, which causes him to fly along the forest-path.

This image alludes back to the theory of Adam and Eve being led out of the Garden of Eden, as is Goodman. Hawthorne at this point remarks about the instinct that guides mortal man to evil. This is a direct statement from the author that he believes that man's natural inclination is to lean to evil than good. Using the literary tools of characterization, setting, irony, and symbolism Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses the theme of sin and retribution. Goodman Brown's life was destroyed because of his inability to face this truth and live with it. The story, which may have been a dream, planted the seed of doubt in Brown's mind, which consequently cut him off from his fellow man and leaves him alone and depressed.

His life ends alone and miserable because he was never able to look at himself and realize that what he believed were everyone else's faults were his as well. Hawthorne was a writer way ahead of his time. His stories have been a testament to the timeless nature of his style. Although written by a Puritan, many of his stories challenge all of that which is puritan. In its day, this story raised controversy because of the risqu'e subject matter. Today, people can turn on the Disney channel and see adultery and satanic rituals.

Society has been callused by the sands of time.

Bibliography

The Bible. 2nd ed. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1953.
Martin, Terence. "Young Goodman Brown". Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1st ed. New York: T wayne P, 1965.
90-99. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown". The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed, Nina Bay. 6th ed. 2003 1263-1272.