Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown
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- Date Submitted: 02/11/2010 10:45 AM
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Young Goodman Brown
In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne uses symbolism to describe a man’s journey as he struggles with a sin. This is a story that any Christian can apply to his or her life during a time when they have faced temptation or sin.
In the story, Hawthorne used personification to describe Faith through Goodman Brown’s wife. As Goodman Brown starts his journey, he is forced to leave his wife, Faith, behind. This already suggests that the journey that Brown is about to go on isn’t a nice walk through the park. As he enters the forest, Brown meets another man, presumably the devil. When asked why he was late, Brown replied that “Faith held me back a while,”(Kelly 191). Here, Brown already hints that he may not want to be on that journey. Not long into the journey, he further expresses his desire to leave by stating, “[H]aving kept covenant by meeting thee here it is my purpose now to return whence I came,” (Kelly 192). The Devil ends up convincing him to stay a little longer even though Brown really wants to leave. This represents how hard it really is to turn away from a sin. You really want to turn away from the sin; however, you are not quite able to, whether it be the temporary pleasure you get from the sin or just curiosity. As he keeps walking through the forest, he sees his old Sunday school teacher, Goody Cloyse in the forest. He finds out that she is actually not who she seems she is. Seeing her as a witch, Brown finds himself again wanting to turn back and return to his Faith. However, the devil still convinces him to stay.
As he continues the journey, Brown also sees the minister and Deacon Gookin in the forest. He realizes that they also have been living in sin. Seeing this, Brown gives what seems to be his strongest attempt to go back, saying, “With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (Kelly 196). This is a great depiction of when a Christian who has been struggling...
In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne uses symbolism to describe a man’s journey as he struggles with a sin. This is a story that any Christian can apply to his or her life during a time when they have faced temptation or sin.
In the story, Hawthorne used personification to describe Faith through Goodman Brown’s wife. As Goodman Brown starts his journey, he is forced to leave his wife, Faith, behind. This already suggests that the journey that Brown is about to go on isn’t a nice walk through the park. As he enters the forest, Brown meets another man, presumably the devil. When asked why he was late, Brown replied that “Faith held me back a while,”(Kelly 191). Here, Brown already hints that he may not want to be on that journey. Not long into the journey, he further expresses his desire to leave by stating, “[H]aving kept covenant by meeting thee here it is my purpose now to return whence I came,” (Kelly 192). The Devil ends up convincing him to stay a little longer even though Brown really wants to leave. This represents how hard it really is to turn away from a sin. You really want to turn away from the sin; however, you are not quite able to, whether it be the temporary pleasure you get from the sin or just curiosity. As he keeps walking through the forest, he sees his old Sunday school teacher, Goody Cloyse in the forest. He finds out that she is actually not who she seems she is. Seeing her as a witch, Brown finds himself again wanting to turn back and return to his Faith. However, the devil still convinces him to stay.
As he continues the journey, Brown also sees the minister and Deacon Gookin in the forest. He realizes that they also have been living in sin. Seeing this, Brown gives what seems to be his strongest attempt to go back, saying, “With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (Kelly 196). This is a great depiction of when a Christian who has been struggling...