Young goodman brown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Young goodman brown - Research Paper Example Hawthorne writes the masterpiece with a pool of symbols that promotes the understanding of the story. Symbolism is used to depict Goodman’s experience in and out of the forest enhancing the understanding of the concept of good and evil. The story begins with an ironical situation where Goodman leaves his three months’ old married wife for something not known deep in the forest. He is very persuasive despite his wife’s plea that he should not go. This aspect is symbolic of the drive that entices humans to pursue their hearts’ desires despite the counsel they get from people who care about them. Leaving ‘Faith’ for the wild symbolically represents a situation where a person will depart from good to pursue something not certain. In the case of Goodman, an evil venture. The forest life presents very unnatural situations, just like the way evil powers manifests supernaturally to men. The forest is a place for the wild. It has been used as an expres sion of the horrible occurrences that happens in there. The first instance he meets an older man who resembles him completely. The appearance of this man symbolises the decision to pursue evil at the age when he already knows how to do good. The resemblance depicts that evil is available among all men including to Goodman. He sees it as a place of no good. He echoes the dominant point of view of seventeenth-century Puritans, who believed that the wild world was something to fear and then dominate (Ezghoul and Zuraika 2). It is symbolic that despite being in the midst of evil Goodman is able to recognise the faith he had always upheld, when he says, â€Å"We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness† (Hawthorne 1123). This statement is symbolic of the knowledge of doing well that Goodman had been exposed to in his life. The names of the characters in the story are full of hidden meaning. The main character, Goodman, is a symbol that depicts a man who knows how to do good and has the capability to do good, but ironically the symbol reveals that it is good people who end up to committing evil. Apart from him, his wife is also symbolic. Faith had married good man for only three months before he decides to take a walk into the forest at night. She symbolises the belief that Goodman had been upholding but now makes a decision to abandon them. Her name is symbolic of good, Faith is an advantage to him, but he leaves it for unknown results. The devil’s stuff is a very symbolic figure that is used to show the combination of the devil and evil. Just like the biblical deception Eve was exposed to, Goodman takes the staff in order to travel faster but this result into further frustrations. This demonstrates the extent to which humans lose their innocence and faith to curiosity and selfish desires (Fogle 209).. Serpent, further symbolises the ability of evil powers to harm rather than benefit an individual, encircled the stu ff. Because of the inherent human weakness and the inability to fight spiritual aspects physically, Goodman ignorantly held the stuff and was pushed by the powers of evil. The serpent is symbolic of the devil and wickedness. The choice to hold the stuff by Goodman symbolises human weakness in taming their desires. The experience in the forest symbolises the effect of engaging in evil. Goodman Brown, like other Puritans, associates the forest with the wild â€Å"Indians† and sees one hiding behind every tree. The real life situation under the influence of the supernatural powers makes Goodman to rethink about his being and the way he perceived fellow human beings and God. The author has framed the story symbolically for the audience to get the image of good and evil painted. The use of night is symbolic of