Critical essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne

             In the story "Young Goodman Brown" Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and allegory throughout the text. His use of this brings psychological meaning to his story. It is a metaphorical story of the journey he takes from good into evil and the struggles he has with it until the day he dies.
             In the first sentence the narrator says "Young Goodman Brown came for, at sunset, into the street of Salem village..." this first sentence uses both allegory and symbolism as does the rest of the paragraph as a basis for the setting (Hawthorne 1263). The story is set in Salem where there was great deal of religious conflicts for the Puritans in a time when hysteria surrounded the Salem Witch Trials.
             The use of the word sunset in the first sentence symbolizes his long journey into the night which ends up leading to his spiritual and psychological death. He ends up unhappy and loveless. The night and his life are never the same after the sunset.
             The first paragraph also shows us the name of his wife is Faith. This name has a symbolic meaning yet is also allegorical throughout the story. The name Faith symbolizes the literal meaning yet is used allegorically throughout to show how Brown is slowly loosing his faith. First in the people he looked up to, then in his wife and at the end in his religion. It is also mentioned that Faith, his wife, wears a pink ribbon, this can symbolize impurity and cloudiness in faith, the literal meaning, because white symbolizes purity and cleanness.
             Another symbol in the story is the walking stick or staff that is used. He describes it as looking like a serpent by saying "...that might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself, like a living serpent", which is symbolic of Satan that tempted Adam and Eve (1265). Though it looks like a serpent it is associated with helping and aiding in walking. It could be symbolic of him seeing evil where it does not exist because the n...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Critical essay on Nathaniel Hawthorne. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:04, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/26046.html