Goodman Brown
When reading Hawthorn's "Young Goodman Brown", one can note why his main character was ironically nicknamed young good man Brown. " The story is all three: a dream vision, a conventional allegory, and finally an inquiry into the problem of faith that undermines the assumptions upon which the allegory is based."(Bloom, 115) Although Hawthorn tries to confuse the reader with his dreamy allegories, Brown still emerges with one main flaw. Brown's words, actions, and thoughts are remarkably similar to a child's. The short story was written in Hawthorn's early years, which leads one to wonder about his intent. Was he trying to relay a point he had just learned? Struggling to be come a man, Brown learns that there is a darkness in everyone. Every man battles with change from childhood to manhood. "Faith Brown, the wife of three months, is simply "Faith," and Brown is Everyman." (Bloom 117) Many cultures consider marriage as the last step to become an adult. Unfortunately, Brown has many more things to learn. "Initially, he is a naive and immature young man who fails to understand the gravity of the step he has taken. Somewhere along his life, Brown has agreed to sell his soul to the
Whatever happened on this journey, whether imaginary or real was so devastating for Young Goodman Brown that he looked the rest of his life with scorn for fellow man, never allowing himself to trust or have faith again. Instead of learning from this experience, Brown chooses to embrace the past. "Rather than reach maturity, Brown realizes that to subscribe to a concept of benign development is to continue inexorably to delude oneself about freedom in the face of invitable change." (Frank, 229) Unfortunately, this will cause him to live as a child forever. From this passage it is easy to see that his relatives were far from sin. Brown's amazement of the accusations made against his forefathers proves his nativity. Although he appears to have good intentions, Brown's childlike behavior limits his abilities. Perhaps the most painful obstacle for any man is putting faith in the wrong things. Brown has a naive belief that faith, both his wife Faith, and his commitment to religion, will provide for him, but ironically it is faith, that betrays him. Not only does Faith represent security but also the innocence and the purity of strength in religion. Brown refers to her as "a blessed angel on earth" (pg. 75) and plans "to cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven." (pg. 75) Faith is in a sense his anchor. She is the matriarch of the home, which is a
Some common words found in the essay are:
Unfortunately Brown, Goodman Brown, War Frank, Goody Cloyse, Goodman Brown's, Cloyse Supposedly, Ironically Brown, Brown Hearing, Struggling Brown, Everyman Bloom, goodman brown, faith brown, sell soul, unfortunately brown, brown seeing, goody cloyse, dream reality, pg 75,
Approximate Word count = 922
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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