Tom Walker’s journey to the Indian fort signifies the easy path to eternal damnation due to pride. 3. The devil represents temptation: to make a pact with the daemon is to be condemned. Through the short story The Devil and Tom Walker, Washington Irving satirizes the new emerging American society of nineteenth century since this civilization begins to draw faraway from basic Puritan transgressions such as: greed, pride, and temptation. This story becomes an allegory of a situation that could happen to those who refuse to live fearful of God and Puritan religion using symbolism as a way to exemplify such allegory.
In two of Hawthorne's pieces of literature, "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Birthmark," there are many similarities and differences in the way they are written and the messages they convey to the reader. A major theme found in both "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Birthmark" is the conflict between good and evil. This theme is found in "Young Goodman Brown" in a rather direct way. Goodman Brown is attracted by the devil, and he tries to battle it by clinging on to the only hope he has, faith. This is an obvious conflict between good and evil, as a man has to make his decision regarding which way to follow, and both paths have elements which attract the person to following them.
Faith is also a symbol of Eve, curious and corrupted by evil because of that fact. Goodman Brown, indeed represents Adam, a man who appears to represent human beings confronted with temptation. As he crosses the threshold, he enters a dark forest of sin, so to speak, to satisfy his curiosity about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them. The forest symbolizes confusion, cross roads, self discovery, and the Garden Of Eden. The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to represent the devil; his staff is a symbol of the devil as a serpent.
Brown's believe that they are''…a race of honest men and good Christians… "has faded (Guerin, 303). The devil deceived Brown to continue his journey in the wood, when Brown decides to return back. The devil said "sit here and rest yourself a while; and when you feel like moving again, there is my staff to help you along. ", then he vanished (Guerin, 307) (139-41). Moreover, Brown lost his trust in his people and the resource of social control became weaker in Brown's psyche ("Nathaniel").
One of the themes in “The Minister's Black Veil”, readers is likely to recognize the reaction of the townspeople to change, especially when a change is associated with their religion or religious figures. This is clearly not an accepting community and it is worth thinking critically about the way the whole community comes together to shun him. The veil makes the Reverend look dark and gloomy and instantly, even before one day is through the people in town are witnessing supernatural events. It seems there is something to be said about the group mentality of Puritans and their quick tendencies toward superstition. Elizabeth is the only exception
Although various readers may have different outlooks on the allegories presented in “Young Goodman Brown” by Hawthorne, it is clear that there is one condescending message that this story is conveying. Young Goodman Brown is an allegory of a young man grappling with his spirituality and a constant clash between his beliefs of whether to stay good of give into the temptation of sin. Hawthorne used different colors, characters, and even settings to display this message. The setting of this story takes place in Salem. Salem is important in understanding this story because at that time, the town of Salem was ingested in the controversy of the Salem witch trials.
Like a newlywed couple Brown’s trust in his spouse (Faith) is not as strong. I believe this is the reason he sets out into the forest to test his faith in God. “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. “ Brown is describing his path to evil as dreary and dark. He knows he is heading down a road, which will leave him scarred for life.
Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Credo Reference. 14 June 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
Charity Hamm Mr. Scholar American Literature 4th January 24, 2014 The Great Symbols of Goodman Brown turn Evil Goodman Brown is a great christian man , but in the story that you start to question it. You The story shows he is confronted with evil symbols that were once good. Symbols that include possessions of the devil and his wife, even the setting of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story Young Goodman Brown includes symbols throughout that show this character turning from good to evil. The forest shows a symbol of evil throughout the story.
Consequently, he results in reading ‘heavenly necromancy books’. This could imply that Faustus reads books that are about black magic, which relates to society at the time, as people would have frowned upon and be terrified of black magic. Witch trials were also taking place at the time which added to the superstition and alleged evidence of the superhuman. ‘Heavenly’ juxtaposes the use of ‘necromancy’ as heavenly supports the idea of God and what is good; however ‘necromancy’ supports the idea of the devil and what is bad. Necromancy