Essay The Allegory of Young Goodman Brown - 2233 Words

The Allegory of Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is an allegory, though an allegory with deficiencies, with tensions existing between the reader and the story. Peter Conn in â€Å"Finding a Voice in an New Nation† explains Hawthorne’s style of allegorizing and how it creates unwanted tensions for the reader: He once planned to call a group of his stories â€Å"Allegories of the Heart,† and in that unused title he summed up much of his method and his subject. His chosen terrain lay between the realms of theology and psychology, and allegory provided the means of his explorations. . . . Where traditional allegory was secured in certitude, however, Hawthorne’s allegorical proceedings yield†¦show more content†¦H. Abrams defines an allegory as a â€Å"narrative, whether in prose or verse, in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived by the author to make coherent sense on the ‘literal,’ or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of signification† (5). It is quite obvious from the names of the characters in â€Å"Young goodman Brown† that their names are contrived to give a secondary signification. Goodman is on the primary level a simple husband who is fo llowing his curiosity about evil; on the level of secondary signification he is Everyman or the new Adam: R. W. B. Lewis in â€Å"The Return into Rime: Hawthorne† states: Finally, it was Hawthorne who saw in American experience the re-creation of the story of Adam and who . . . exploited the active metaphor of the American as Adam – before and during and after the Fall† (72). Goodman responds in this way to the fellow-traveller when the latter implicates the governor in devilish deeds: Can this be so! cried Goodman Brown, with a stare of amazement at his undisturbed companion. Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council; they have their own ways, and are no rule for a simple husbandman like me. But, were I to go on with thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our minister, at Salem village? Oh, his voice would make me tremble, both Sabbath-day and lecture-day! So by Goodman’s own words we learnShow MoreRelatedAllegory in Young Goodman Brown Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesNathaniel Hawthornes short story Young Goodman Brown is an excellent example of an allegory. Allegories use events, characters or symbolism as a bizarre or abstract representation of ideas in the story, and throughout Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne uses a heavy amount of symbolism, as well as his characters and the events of the story line to develop a religious allegory. A large symbolic role is played by protagonist Goodman Browns wife, Faith. Also, the main event in the short story, BrownsRead MoreAllegory And Symbolism In Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown728 Words   |  3 PagesIt is hard to read beyond the third paragraph of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† without finding allegory and symbolism. The opening seems realistic--Goodman Brown, a young Puritan, leaves his home in colonial Salem to take an overnight trip-- but his wifes name, â€Å"Faith,† im mediately suggests a symbolic reading. Before long, Brown’s walk into the dream-like forest seems like an allegorical trip into evil. The idea that Hawthorne shows by this trip is that people are attracted to sin through temptation whichRead MoreSummary On Allegory In Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown867 Words   |  4 Pagesin his â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† story, where evil overcomes and defeats the good. Hawthorne does this by using these allegorical figures Young goodman Brown, Faith, and the old unnamed man. These allegories are put in this story to represent this theory, the innocent thrown into the good versus evil war. The Puritans in this 1600’s era painted men and women as a perfect imaged, well mannered, purified, and religious people. Goodman Brown was no different, as his title implies in this allegory he is theRead MoreAllegory and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†1203 Words   |  5 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is an excellent example of the use of allegories and symbolism as a form of satire on Puritan faith. According to Frank Preston Stearns, author of The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne, â€Å"Hawthorne may have intended this story as an exposure of the inconsistency, and consequent hypocrisy, of Puritanism† (Stearns 181). Throughout the story of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† Hawthorne tries to infuse as many symbols and allegories as he can to enhance the overallRead More Deep Allegory in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay2351 Words   |  10 PagesDeep Allegory  in Young Goodman Brown  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Herman Melville in â€Å"Hawthorne and His Mosses† (The Literary World August 17, 24, 1850), comments on the deep allegory found within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† Young Goodman Brown? You would of course suppose that it was a simple little tale, intended as a supplement to Goody Two Shoes. Whereas, it is deep as Dante; nor can you finish it, without addressing the author in his own words--It is yours to penetrate, inRead MoreSymbolism and Allegory in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay2297 Words   |  10 Pages   Ã‚   The main characters in Hawthornes story Young Goodman Brown are Goodman Brown, his wife Faith and the stranger who accompanies Goodman Brown in the forest. At the beginning of the story Brown is bidding his wife, Faith farewell at their front door. Taking a lonely route into the forest, he meets an older man who bears a fatherly resemblance to both Brown and the Devil. Later that night Brown discovers to his amazement, that many exemplary villagers are on the same path including, GoodyRead More Essay on Symbols, Symbolism, and Allegory in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown726 Words   |  3 PagesSymbols, Symbolism, and Allegory in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the authors intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different people as symbols throughout Young Goodman Brown. The largest symbolicRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown Analysis876 Words   |  4 PagesHawthorne’s story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† appears to be a story about original sin with a lot of symbolism tied in to make it an allegory. An allegory is a story that can be interpreted in different ways to find the hidden meaning behind the symbolism in the story. The three things focused on throughout the short story is Faith, the forest that Goodman Brown takes his journey through, and the staff, which the old man who leads Goodman Brown on his way carries. The short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† uses severalRead MoreYoung Goodman Brown Essay931 Words   |  4 PagesYoung Goodman Brown: Good versus Evil Throughout Young Goodman Brown and other works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the themes of sin and guilt constantly reoccur. Like many authors, Hawthorne used events in his life as a basis for the stories that he wrote. Hawthorne felt that ones guilt does not die with him/her but is rather passed down through the generations. Hawthornes great-great uncle was one of the judges during the Salem witchcraft trials. Hawthorne felt a great sense of guilt because ofRead MoreWe All Have Evil Inside874 Words   |  4 Pagesbest known for his use of allegorical figures in his short stories. The use of allegories help its readers seek a hidden meaning of an object or character to help them understand their significance to the story. In 1835, Hawthorne wrote the short story of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† where the reader is introduced to an innocent and pure couple who are all about religion and against any evil worshippers. Faith and Goodman Brown will face a diabolic journey to hell, and fig ht against the will of the evil which