Young Goodman Brown: Detailed Exploration of the Use of Symbolism
The Story of Young Goodman Brown is a classic. Literature teachers across the nation assign it to students each year because of the very talented use of symbolism that author Nathaniel Hawthorne weaves throughout the story(Reesman, 1998). The use of symbolism is a tactic used by many authors to illustrate their point, plot or feelings about a particular topic. The storyline is built with symbolism as the foundation for meaning. Hawthorne uses symbolism to create a deep thought process about good and evil within the reader. One must remember that at the time the story was written religious issues were of utmost importance to society. The church was the complete overseer of the lives of those who belonged to the church. In the story Hawthorne creates a firm division between good and evil through the use of symbolism. Before one can begin to identify the use of symbolism in the story of Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one must first understand what symbolism is when it comes to works of literature and how it is used. Symbolism is the use of things to illustrate a point. For example in a story about an innocent young girl entering a bad area in town and becoming the victim of crime, she may h
"In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne uses symbolism to illustrate the story of a young man who reluctantly departs from his world of innocence to realize the widespread evil that exists in his world(More Symbolismhttp://www.everything4me.netfirms.com/symbolism02.htm)." The reader is given a dark and dreary picture as the path is described by Hawthorne. It is narrow, it is dark and it is incredibly depressing and dreary by all accounts. The description of the path conjures up images of the path taken by Dorothy and her companions in the Wizard of Oz, which was intensify evil and scary. Before the movie was around to compare to however, the description of the path that Goodman Brown took is illustrative of the evil he is headed for. Symbolism is used to illuminate a point that the storyline is already portraying. The staff is an interesting spin on the symbolic meaning that is woven throughout the story because the staff represents evil in several of the story scenes. In one instant when the Sunday school teacher, who is named Goody Cloyse, is touched by the staff she screams out that it is not a staff but is in fact the devil. How would she know that unless she had a connection with the devil? This is a symbolic sentence within the story that lets the reader know that she has embraced the idea of the devil and the existence of evil, and now believes in its power, otherwise she would not have known to be frightened when the staff touched her. This is how the use of symbolism works to bring the picture to the mind of the reader so that he or she can have a full understanding of what the author is trying to say. Faith, Goody, Goodman are all names of characters in the story, while the staff and the flaming altars represent evil.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1706
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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