Faith wears a cap with pink ribbons which symbolize her mixture of good and evil and also the uncertainty of Smith 2 Brown’s faith. Brown takes his journey to the forest only to look evilness in the face. A man who looks like an older version of Young Goodman Brown greets him ,“you are late (550)”. Brown returns with the answer “Faith kept me back a while (550)”. They continue on the journey discussing Brown’s father and grandfather and how they came through the woods many times.
The short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays a man’s wild journey to leave his faith, home, and security behind to take a chance with the devil in to an adventure into a dark forest. Young Goodman Brown, the main character goes off into the woods and undergoes a life-transforming experience where he realizes the imperfections and flaws of the world and its people, including himself. Hawthorne widely employs the use of symbolism and imagery through the story, which allows the reader to jump into the story. We can understand the use of symbolism and imagery by exploring three aspects of the story the setting, the characters, and the plot. In the beginning of the story, Young Goodman Brown is leaving his wife Faith at sunset to go on a journey that cannot wait.
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.
Symbolism is an author’s method of associating the representation of a person, event, or thing with a much broader idea or range of ideas without losing the symbols literal meaning. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne uses people and objects to allegorically reveal an abstract truth to his audience. However, the largest symbolic role that Hawthorne cast in this particular story was Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife. In his story, Hawthorne illustrates a Puritan man, Goodman Brown, going on a journey to spiritual experience. Before setting on his journey, Goodman Brown had to leave his wife, Faith, behind.
Period 1 AP Literature & Composition 24 October 2014 Analysis of Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, Young Goodman Brown, the devil’s staff symbolizes the inevitable loss of innocence that will arise from the temptation of the sinful nature of man, probing at the idea that no one is truly pure. The beginning of Young Goodman Brown starts off with a sense of mystery and suspense. The audience understands that Goodman Brown is going on a “journey” in the woods of Salem. Hawthorne depicts Brown as a man who takes pride in his faith and his family. Shortly after he starts his journey, he meets with the mysterious traveler with a serpent on his staff.
From the start, Goodman Brown shows conceit, and up until the very end Brown pays the consequences for his weaknesses. Brown shows conceit when he leaves Faith, his wife, behind in order to test his own will to resist evil. Faith, of course, is a metaphor for Goodman Brown’s faith in humanity as a whole. Brown is willing to leave his faith behind for the mere test of his own will; his over-confidence is blatant at this point. Of course, Brown is able to make excuses, such as “…after this on night I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven” , yet despite his excuses, the fact still remains-Brown is willing to give up his faith to test his will to resist temptation.
Lennie expecting and eager for George to give him more hell does not get the answer he expects because George knows that he is about to end Lennies life. He wants to end Lennie’s life on a better not. The repetition of that phrase especially using that word enhances the mood of this scene because it creates the uneasy scary feeling that Steinbeck wants you to feel. Throughout the duration of this book its author John Steinbeck used dictation and repetition of phrases to enhance the mood of his novel. This book conveys a mood of sadness and hope at the same time; towards the end it conveys a fearful mood as Lennies life came to an end.
The journey that Goodman Brown takes itself is a symbol of good versus evil. He is curious about what is happening out in the forest so he meets up with the “man” or devil who takes him on a journey to see a ceremony and along the way he sees many things that make him think twice. He actually asks himself this question, “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow?” (155) The man’s staff is gnarled and twisted like a snake which can be thought of as the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve. The staff also acted as a tool to help him move through the forest at a quicker pace. When he leaves his wife at the beginning of the story, her pink ribbons symbolize her virtue and goodness but somewhere in the course of the evening he lost the meanings of those pink ribbons and only saw what Faith might have done while in the forest.
It would seem odd to offer a ‘disclaimer’ right off the top proclaiming yourself as ‘a faithful Christian man.’ You are either known as this by reputation or deed. I resign to believe that this statement is more for Clarence than it is for Brakenbury. Sometimes we have to “call things that are not as though they are.” Perhaps this affirmation helped ease Clarence’s mind as he began to recount the ghastly tale. I expected Clarence to continue in this religious vein, but his spiritual references fell short of being used as a ‘god-fearing’ man might. For instance, there was no reference to God, at the point in the dream where he was drowning.
This Movie being a psychological “thriller” you would think the ending would leave viewers with a mindset of us making are own prediction of what was going to happen next. That’s what seems to be theme at least up until the ending of the movie which took the excitement and suspense out, making the movie inconsistent and dull. Yes, everyone wanted to know if Evan would ever resolve his problem, but you would anticipate the ending to be a bit more dramatic. This is why I don’t think the theatrical cut was an appropriate ending because it lacked suspense, thrill, and excitement, but I did Evans dilemma. The theatrical ending is one