Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay - 1105 Words

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegorical story â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late sixteen hundreds in a time of religious hysteria and only a few generations after the infamous witch trials. Although Young Goodman Brown is a fictional tale, it is based on the cynical environment of Salem during this time period. The short story is filled with many literary elements, leading you to question what did exactly happen to the main character at the conclusion. When analyzing a story like Young Goodman Brown, one must recognize that the story is at whole symbolic. In the text, symbols are used to uncover the truth of the characters. The role of Faith as both a character and a spiritual element are crucial to both the†¦show more content†¦Because Faith was so honest, Young Goodman Brown put all of his faith in her, making a heroin of his worst enemy. Faith attempts to hold Brown back from his journey, yet for reasons unknown, he insists u pon going. As Young Goodman Brown embarks on a journey into the forest without Faith, he also leaves behind his faith in society. Repeated images of the road Brown takes and the dark forest around him, add to the allegory. â€Å"He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be, and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead, so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.† (Hawthorne 198). As Brown wanders down the dark foreboding path that closes behind him, the potential for spiritual danger arises, foreshadowing the loss of his spiritual faith. In the forest, Young Goodman Brown meets with a man who is hinted as the devil. Upon their meeting, the devil comes out and asks Goodman Brown what took him so long to get there and he replies Faith kept me back awhile. (Hawthorne 198). This statements double meaning explains that Brown’s wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faithShow MoreRelated Essay on Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown710 Words   |  3 PagesFaith in Young Goodman Brown  Ã‚        Ã‚   For those who have not studied the Puritans or their beliefs, Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown is not much more than a story of lost (or maybe just confused) faith. Hawthone, a man of puritan descent, had some oppositions to the ideals that Puritans followed. 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It’s hard to determine when he’s speaking of his lovely wife Faith or his Faith in his God and religion. Through his many Young Goodman Brown’s journey begins with his departure from Faith, for he must â€Å"tarry away from thee.† (Nathaniel Hawthorne 1289) Could itRead More Essay on the Test of Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown776 Words   |  4 Pages Young Goodman Brown:nbsp; A Test of Faith The story Young Goodman Brown is about a man and his faith in himself, his wife, and the community they reside in. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before sunrise. The time era is approximately a generation after the time of the witch trials. Goodman Browns struggle between good and evil is a struggle he does not think he can face. He reiterates his false confidenceRead More Essay on Loss of Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown874 Words   |  4 Pages Young Goodman Brown:nbsp; Loss of Faith nbsp; Faith can be defined, as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Young Goodman Brown is about a man who leaves his wife, Faith, at home alone for a night while he takes a walk down the road of temptation with the devil. Along the road he sees many people that he would never expect to see on this road, his wife included. He returns to his life in Salem a changed man. In Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolismRead MoreWhere Not To Base Your Faith: Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1424 Words   |  6 Pagescaught him. You of little faith, he said, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the sto ry Young Goodman Brown. The definition of faith according to Merriam-WebsterRead More Symbolism,Characterization, and Faith in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown912 Words   |  4 PagesSymbolism,Characterization, and Faith in   Young Goodman Brown      Ã‚   Faith is believing what you can’t see or touch. Faith is knowing something especially when there is no proof to back it up. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is a story about a man who leaves his wife, Faith, home alone for a night while he journeys with the devil down the road of temptation. During the course of his journey, the man sees many people who seem out of place, including his wife. When he returns home to Salem, he is a changedRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1065 Words   |  5 PagesWhen it comes to the topic of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, most of us will readily agree that duplicity is a major theme in the piece, or the idea of different versions of reality. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether Hawthorne is implying that man is inherently evil. Whereas some are convinced that Young Goodman Brown was good until tainted by the Devil, others maintain that he was evil from the begi nning and was completely aware of the evil he