The Puritan Dilemma and Symbolism of Evil in "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Puritanism is a popular religious movement in England during the periods 16th and 17th century. It subsists to the belief that public worship must be made in reference to valid claims on the scriptures, and argued that the assignment of clerical and high religious positions in the Catholic Church is not decreed by the Scriptures. Puritanism has been divided into various sects, which includes the Separatists, Quakers, and Nonconformists, all of which are historically claimed to deviate to the original philosophy of Puritanism in that some of these sects are extreme practitioners of Scripture-based religion (like the Separatists).Puritanism is portrayed among literary works during the 17th and 18th centuries to be rigid, intolerable of social change and deviation, and extremely moralistic, and these characteristics of Puritanism stemmed from the Separatists who have introduced Puritanism in America (the New World). Puritanism, as a religion, advocates strict adherence to the moral codes taught by Christianity, particularly the virtue of self-discipline and eternal aspiration to be absolved of humanity's inherent sinfulness. In Morgan's Puritanist Dilemma, Puritans in early American history provided opportunity for the early
There were numerous depictions of how the theme of evil was highlighted and illustrated in "Young Goodman Brown." One literary technique that Hawthorne used was symbolism in illustrating the pervasiveness of evil in the midst of Goodman's experience of the Puritanist Dilemma. Thus, this paper provides a discussion and analysis of the symbolisms that Hawthorne utilized in demonstrating the themes of evil and Goodman's Puritanist Dilemma. The forest served as the story's third symbol in reinforcing the power of evil to overpower an individual's faith-more specifically, a Puritan's strong faith. The author depicted this evil and hypocrite society in resemblance to a group of people engaging in witchcraft in the forest, a secret society where people appear to be good during the day, and bad at night: "[t]his night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds, how hoary-hearded elders of the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households... It shall be yours to penetrate... the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts..." Embodied in Goodman's character is an individual tired of being in an intolerant and hostile society; his hallucination and confusion he had experienced on that night shows how he tries to escape the harsh realities in life that he experiences through a more convenient escape-that is, to pursue and live in the comfort of insanity, total isolation from the society. The most prevalent theme depicted in the story was the rampant persistence of the Devil, or evil, in teasing Goodman to become a sinner. The theme of evil is demonstrated through Goodman's fear, wherein the night in the forest showed how evil was represented by his fear and confusion about his faith: "Faith kept me back awhile... My Faith is gone!... There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given..." Through these two forms of symbolism depicting the pervasiveness of evil, Hawthorne showed how humans are 'naturally savage,' and are only constrained by social conv
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Approximate Word count = 1385
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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