Analysis of the plot of
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" we are introduced to Goodman Brown, a young pious man who has agreed to meet with the devil. Goodman's mission is to view for himself the evil doings of the supposedly rightous members of his puritan community. In the story, Goodman leaves his wife of 3 months to satisfy his morbid curiousity and view a witch's black mass. He travels on Halloween night, the one night of the year when the witches are rumoured to hold their evil gatherings. As he leaves the safety of his village to enter the dark forest, he is met by the devil. The devil taunts Goodman with tidbits of information regarding Goodman's own bloodline both to torment him and to plant the seeds of doubt into his mind about the piousness of his own forefathers. Goodman tried to turn back on his journey but the devil blocks him by offering new information to whet his curiosity. For example, the devil points out an elderly woman that is walking on the road ahead of them. Goodman recognizes her as the woman who taught him his catechism as a young boy. Goodman hides in the woods terrified that the woman may see him with the devil and think he is in employment of the devil but when Goodman witnesses the devil greeting the woman,
He does a good job of giving the reader that "what is going to happen next" feeling. The remaining characters I would classify as flat. Hawthorne's use of adding obstacles to Goodman's quest was what kept me enthralled and interested. The dark and dreary mood drew me in to the story just as Goodman was drawn into the dark and dreary forest. Although we are introduced to several more characters, none as intimately as we are with Goodman, these other characters are still quite interesting to me. He realizes that even if he does find her it will be too late. He now has to rescue his wife from becoming one of the evil doers but in the end he fails in his task. As the night wears on Goodman is eventually separated from his guide but instead of turning back he stays on his path due to the continuing bombardment of more evidence of participation in this witch's gathering by the most righteous and upstanding members of his community. I wasn't given enough information to make me want to spend very much time thinking about their insights or to create much of an opinion which I believe is what Hawthorne wanted. I feel that the climax of this story comes about the same time as the resolution. The dark forest is used to inject gloom and foreboding into the setting to keep Goodman and the reader on edge but not so on edge that Goodman or the reader will bolt at the slightest rustling of the leaves. Everytime Goodman tried to change his mind and return home, Hawthorne shows how sneaky the devil is by portraying him as constantly being one step ahead of Goodman, teasing Goodman with just enough information to keep him and the reader dangling and needing to see what happens next. I felt this character is more of a round character because of his ability to change at whim. I became hooked when Goodman heard his wife's voice and then I just couldn't put the book down. They hold basic supporting roles in this story.
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Acceptance Essays
