Morals: The Phophets Hair and Young Goodman Brown

A detailed Summary of Morals: The Phophets Hair and Young Goodman Brown

Morals. Where do you draw the line? Are you willing to give up something you love over some newfound morals? Maybe you wouldn't, but Goodman Brown and Hashim are willing to throw it all away. In the two stories The Prophets Hair and Young Goodman Brown, we can see how religious morals play an important role in the outcome of the story. In each of these stories, the main character has a sudden and meaningful religious experience. Although the validity of each experience is rather questionable, it brings about a real change in the attitude and actions of the main character.

In the first story, the main character Hashim not a God-fearing man, but is "living honorably in the world." (Rushdie, 793) When Hashim stumbles upon the prophet Mohammad's hair this religious treasure changes him from the nice guy to a crazed, religiously moral maniac. He changes from a man of little to no faith to forcing his family to pray five times a day. The Prophet's hair makes Hashim think that he is the moral authority. He goes as far to try and cut off a man's hand, because he is delinquent with his payment. He calls this man "a thief of other men's money." (Rushdie, 796) Hashim becomes intolerant of others' moral states. His ability to reason with

Ideas about morals change individually. Religion, especially in a religious society, lays down set rules about morals, which eliminates most confusion. We as individuals create our own ideas about what is right and wrong. Morals, though based in religion, ultimately are up to the individual. Although the two men react in very different ways, each responding to the moral situation of the people around him, they focus too much on judging others rather than judging themselves and realizing that they are no better than those people around them. In both of these stories, the men's judgments are clouded by religious fervor rather than real moral decisions. As a result, they ultimately make the situation worse.

However, Hashim and Goodman Brown react differently to their new revelations. Hashim suddenly has the epiphany that he and his family have been living a nonreligious and therefore immoral life. He immediately takes action to change this, throwing the whole family and others into confusion. His action is so immediate and drastic that it leads his family to plan behind his back how to restore the family order. On the other hand, Goodman brown dreams a revelation, and although it is almost certainly a dream, he remains c

Some common words found in the essay are:
Goodman Brown, Hashim God-fearing, Brown Hawthorne, Koran Christian, Maybe Hashim, , goodman brown, Brown Hashim, main character, hawthorne 207, religious experience, takes action,

Approximate Word count = 827
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion

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