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Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" is set of the mid 1800 's. Hawthorne uses extensive symbolism. This story took us on road of two parallel meanings of Goodman's life and faith. With the many symbols we understand the loss of Goodman's faith.
Goodman Brown was a young Puritan. Goodman has been called on an errand and his new wife, Faith, asks him not to go. They are newly married and she doesn't want him to leave. Goodman says that he has to go and looks back as she waves goodbye.
Faith is the symbol for what he left behind and needed to hang on to. Faith has had dreams of his errand, but Goodman puts them aside and goes forward with his plans. When he returns he plans to follow her to heaven. Faith represents faith in God and good. She does not respond to Satan's call. Although she has been tempted many times she stood true to her faith.
Goodman takes a journey through the forest, which is dark and has places you can see it, but is a dark, grim, eerie place. A forest can make you feel afraid of what you may find at every turn. Hawthorne's use of names is symbolic as well. Goodman represents a good man, where Goody Close's represents a spiritual woman. Goodman meets a stranger and proceeds to walk with him. The stranger carries a staff, which resembles a serpent.
This stranger bears a resemblance to Goodman himself, as if they could be father and son. The stranger is Satan who takes him on a long adventure. Satan being the originator of evil has planted a seed of doubt in Goodman's heart. Goodman knows the right thing to do is to turn around and go back, but he keeps listening to Satan and never really turns away. Satan basis his friendship with Goodman on Satan's history with his father and grandfather. Satan claims that Goodman will carry out acts just like his father, grandfather and great grandfather.
To me Satan is saying that is human nature that we will sin. Satan is telling him that Goodman is not the only one in his Church and community that has walked with Satan, even the Deacon of the Church walks with him. Goodman fears that harm will come to his wife so he doesn't want to go with Satan. Satan assures him that no harm will come to her, just like he has not harmed a woman minister who walks with him.
The same minister that taught Goodman about his faith and the Church. She is on her way to a meeting where preparations are being made to welcome a new member. This is Goodman, unbeknownst to him. The minister, Goody, is his temptress.
Will he trust in her and walk with her to the witches meeting or stand true to his faith. The minister asks Goodman to take her arm and walk her to the meeting. Goodman refuses and tosses her the serpentine walking stick. She and the stick disappears, leaving Goodman alone again with the stranger.
Goodman says that he will remain faithful to Faith and his faith. Then a dark cloud appears just over Goodman, which is symbolic of Satan's block to God or heaven. Goodman hears Faith crying and calls out to her. There is no reply to his calls, but out of the corner of his eye he spots a little pink ribbon, the one from his precious wife's hair.
Then a heavy thought that he had lost his Faith forever. The ribbon symbolized that his faith had been taken he had nothing else to live for. He walks into the witch's camp and Goodman recognizes the people from his community and church. He sees these people as deceptive, wrong doers. He is standing at the alter with Faith and just before Satan anoints them, he shouts to Faith to look up to heaven, but he doesn't know if she did, leaving doubt in his heart forever.
He losses faith in everyone and losses respect and love for all of them including his new wife. He becomes a dark soul throughout his travel. Goodman begins to loose his faith in mankind. This is a spiritual battler within him. After this trip he's never the same. He faces the fact of who he really is which is a deceiver himself.
The theme of this story is that Goodman believes that everyone, even if they act righteous, has walked along a path with Satan. He trusts no one and with that he lives a gloomy life, distance from his wife and everyone. Perhaps Satan won. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Goodman Brown Faith Satan
