In short stories, I have learned that there is much more than what meets the eye. Nearly everything in the story has meaning. All I have to do is try to find all the hints and clues the writer drops and manage to put them all together, so I can interpret the writer's meaning of what they are trying to convey in the writing. In the story "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I determined he is writing about a man who is coming of age and learns that there is darkness in everyone and upon this coming of knowledge, he is forever changed.
From the start, Hawthorne describes Goodman Brown as a good Puritan who is devoted to his wife, Faith, whose name he uses like a shield for his soul. At the beginning of his walk through the woods, Brown runs into the Devil who tries to convert him; th
is is shown by the Devil's offering of the staff to Brown. The Devil goes on to say that Brown's family has had dealings with evil in the past; examples used are the Salem witch trials and the killing of Indian non-combatants. Brown goes on to say that he could not bear the shame of betraying his Faith while the Devil is naming people known and respected by Brown to try to show him that it wouldn't really be that bad if Brown joined the witches' coven. When Goody Cloyse is encountered, Brown learns how she truly feels about him; also, Goody Cloyse freely takes up the Devil's staff. Proud of himself for denying the Devil, while again using his wife's name to strengthen his resolve, Brown discovers that his respected Minister, Deacon Gookin, and even the Indians are all servants of the Devil.
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