Introduce, Discuss and Analyze Moral and Religious Principles in Young Goodman Brown and A Good Man is Hard to Find
The idea of good men in each of these stories is not a new idea, butthese stories look at "good men" far differently than most of society.Good men to most people are those who do good deeds, are kind and gentle,and strong when they need to be. Good men would never kill, maim, orsuspect their neighbors of conspiring with the devil. Society does notembrace these two characters, and so, they live their lives outside societyand in the Misfit's case, outside the law. Both of these men have chosento live outside society's boundaries, and this indicates their deprivationand disillusionment. Young Goodman Brown is convinced he is the only"good" man in a village of demons, and does not even trust his own wife.Hawthorne writes he became, "A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, adistrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of thatfearful dream" (Hawthorne ). The darker side of society and the devil hasinfluenced both characters. They are both good men gone bad because theyare easily swayed and easily influenced. In these stories, the good men are flawed and human, more like most ofus. However, their flaws are deeper than most. By clever means, author
These are men whose lives are shattered by momentous events. ' His voiceseemed about to crack and the grandmother's head cleared for an instant"(O'Connor). Both men could have been "good," butallowed forces outside themselves to lead them far astray. Both seem to be valid conclusions in their own minds. Both mencan recognize good (Goodman Brown knows his wife was good, and The Misfitknows the grandmother is good), and yet, they cannot give it the sameimportance that they give evil. It isfar easier to succumb to evil than it is to be good and moral, as these twocharacters show. These are certainly important experiences in each of theirlives, but they show the men are weak, and unable to face difficulty. Thesereligious miscalculations formulate the rest of their lives, and they allowtheir skewed views to influence everything they do. He says, "'if I had ofbeen there I would of known and I wouldn't be like I am now. A pious and decent man, Goodman Brown turns against his religion because ofthe demons in his own mind. The reader sees a spark of hope, just as he "shot her threetimes through the chest" (O'Connor ). The Misfit feels Jesus let him down, and Goodman Brown feels God lethim down. These arecomplex characters with complex problems, and it is clear they representsociety, and its own battle with complex problems. The irony isthat good people can be influenced by evil, and the tone of both storiesshows that evil is insidious, and is difficult to shake off, once it takeshold.
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Acceptance Essays
