In East of Eden, Steinbeck makes Cal the main victim of the struggle between good and evil by emphasizing thou mayest. In East of Eden, The struggle of good and evil is seen constantly throughout the novel in a variety of characters. Cathy, symbolizing Satan, looks for the evil in each person and tries to draw it out and exploit it. Steinbeck says,
The Traveler brought out Young Goodman Brown’s corruptibility and changed him for the worse. Faith was the only category Young Goodman Brown stayed true to. In the end, Young Goodman Brown was dynamically changed as a character due the destruction that his journey lead him
Hooper’s congregational responds to his black veil with distress and confusion. The veil instills an irrational fear into the congregation’s once rational mindset and perception of Mr. Hooper. We learn that “there was a feeling of dread, neither plainly confessed, nor carefully concealed,” spread among the congregation as a whole (26). The veil becomes a mysterious symbol for Mr. Hooper’s church members; it is abnormal and unnatural in their eyes, just as the birthmark is to Aylmer. Although Hawthorne is again somewhat ambiguous, the text suggests that Mr. Hooper’s veil is meant to symbolize the inherent sin that lies inside him (as well as the congregation).
When the shadow, in gebbet form, ambushes him, Ged feels that his powers are being taken from him (116). This is an example of the evil inside himself, which renders the good side useless as it overpowers him. This shows the constant struggle for power between good and evil, including the battle of virtue vs. sin inside each of us. When Ged makes his first actual attempt to hurt the shadow (by grabbing it), he suddenly gains the ability to know where it is at all times (160). This leads to his discovery that the shadow can’t steal his power if he is searching for it.
Their conversation is very dry until they start having an argument about his affair and her suspicion of him. John is quite an over-baring character, though does love Elizabeth which he proves later on in the play but in this scene we see that she is still
Effect: Throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne repeatedly focuses on a recurring idea in the story—the contrast between light and dark, and sunshine and shadow. In many cultures across the globe, darkness and dark colors represent shame, sin, and disgrace. Hawthorne takes advantage of this universal concept and applies it to the novel’s sequence of events. Hester is a sinner. She has committed crimes that defy the wishes of god himself, and she has been ridiculed and outcast from her community.
If you start to question your faith and mess with the devil, you will surely lose. Goodman Brown fought an internal war with his faith and eventually lost to evil. It also shows that how everyone is not as they seem. People always do thing out of the eyes of others and can have different purposes and beliefs than what appears at first glance. Goodman Brown has learned the hard way about dabbling with the devil and will now forever be in question with his
2. “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell;” (Edwards 47). Both Bradstreet and Edwards diction are based off of the lives or situations they are in. Bradstreet being her puritan based life and Edwards being very angry and vengeful toward the listeners of his sermon or the “unpure” puritans. Concrete Formal: Constituting an
His darker features reveal the darkness in his soul, while the physical deformity suggests a corruption in his soul. Once Chillingworth finds out that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father, his physical appearance worsens and his evilness and hatred increases. Hester also notices that “there came a glare of red light out of his eyes”(164).
According to Brown, “The dramatist depicts incidents which arouse pity and fear for the protagonist [Antigone], then during the course of the action, he resolves the major conflicts, bringing the plot to a logic and foreseeable conclusion (Brown, para 5). The tragic hero in Antigone is Creon. Tragic heroes are not all good and not all bad. Creon suffers a great deal due to his tragic flaw and destructive pride. Creon believes the gods make him suffer the loss of his wife and son as punishment for his pride.