Monday, October 25, 2010
Young Goodman Brown
It's a visit from an old friend -- Nathaniel Hawthorne! :-) Some similarities to SL ... but certainly some differences!!! OK, so what should we blog about?? How about choosing one of these two topics: How does Hawthorne use the setting to advance the story? or How does Hawthorne use symbolism? I'd also be interested to your general reaction to the story, too!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I LOVE Hawthorne!! I don't care what anybody else says, Scarlet Letter=AMAZING! Anyway back to "Young Goodman Brown." I thought it was a pretty interesting story. The overall plot kept me reading along just like The Scarlet Letter. I really liked the diction used when the characters were conversing. It really set the setting, but what really grabbed me was all the symbolism. The fisrt symbols I picked up on were the serpent, the man with the staff and Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown appears to represent human beings confronted with temptation (he wishes to enter the dark forest of sin to satisfy his curiosity about the happenings there and perhaps even to take part in them). The man who meets Brown in the forest appears to represent the devil; his staff is a symbol of the devil as a serpent. Thus, we have Adam (Brown, curious to learn forbidden knowledge) facing the serpent/Devil/temptation in the Garden of Eden (the man with the staff). It was the Tree of Knowledge that enticed Adam. Goodman Brown is enticed by an entire forest. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence. Of course you can not have Adam without Eve! Faith appears at the witches' meeting because she is also tempted by the forest, just as Eve was tempted by sin. Faith could also represent Brown’s religious faith and his faith in others. Her pink ribbons stand for the innocence she lost, just as she lost her pink ribbons. There are plenty more symbols, but I figure I could leave something for everyone else to talk about ;)
ReplyDeleteyea! you wrote a book Cinda! lol. I haven't read the story yet so I don't have much to say. I just wanted to see what the prompt was so I could think about my answer as I am reading it!
ReplyDeleteWell since Cinda did one I will do the other. During Puritan times in New England, religion was sacred. You went to church every week. You read the Bible. We have all read The Crucible. We all know the deal. Writing it in this time period allowed Hawthorne to make the plot plausible, and to use the symbolism Cinda mentioned and to have readers easily pick up on it since it was prominent in the time period. Biblical references are easily understood since during this time God was so dominant, readers automatically think of it. Hawthorne definitely dominates this time period of setting, and uses it and Salem to really show us the insanity Goodman Brown comes to have.
ReplyDeleteAs Kelli said, this period of time was very heavy on religion, particularly Puritanism, and Hawthorne's literature represents that. Some religious symbols that i pulled from the book include, like Cinda said, the elderly mans staff, which resembled a serpent, and perhaps a more pagan reference, the woman speaking of how she was annoited with wolf's-bane and cinque-foil, both plants more commonly associated with witchcraft. By the means of these religious symbols, Hawthorne takes us back to a time where even the slightest offense against the Bible of the church was deemed heresy or witchcraft, which is the setting of the story. I did however enjoy the end of the tale, particularly the question asked on pg. 207, which makes the reader think outside of what was just stated directly.
ReplyDeleteok soooo.....to be honest, this was definitely not my favorite story. I thought the whole "don't go to the dark side" thing was just too weird and was hard for me to be interested. However there was some major symbolism in this book. The old man that young goodman brown meets in the forest represents the devil and his ability to tempt people into his rath. His staff is shaped like a snake which is the universal sign for evil. Also his wife's name is Faith, therefore she is pretty much perfect. She is the ideal wife who is a woman of God with strong morals and virtue. THe pink ribbons in her hair are a sybol of her purity and when they "fall in the air" into the hands of Young Goodman Brown, he thinks she has lost her purity and has given into temptaion, so he goes crazy.....
ReplyDeleteI think one form of symbolism is the name of the town...Salem. When I hear or read the word Salem, I think of the Salem Witchcraft stuff, which the the guy walking with the walking stick symbolizes the devil/serpent in this story. Well the walking stick is shaped like a serpent, which makes anyone think evillll is comingg. Also, the pink ribbon is Faith's hair represents purity and a perfectionist I believe. This story automatically made me think of the Crucible, which I did enjoy, but honestly I did not like this story. Even though, during this time period a story like this caught many readers attention.
ReplyDeleteAs josh and Cinda said the staff is an exaple of symbolism. The serpnt has always been thought of as a demon but it also can refer to the serpent that convinced Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit defying God’s will and bringing his wrath upon humanity. When the devil tells Brown to use the staff to travel, Brown takes him up on the offer and, like Eve, is ultimately condemned for his weakness by losing his innocence. Another example of symbolism is Faiths pink ribbons representing purity and innocents. the ribbons are mentioned quite a few times in the begining of the book, then when Brown is questioning the goodness of the people he knows the pink ribbon flutters from the sky, thes represents Faith's loss of innocents, but then when Brown returns home he is greeted by Faith with her pink ribbons of innocents in her hair making him question if the night ever occured or if it was all just a dream.
ReplyDeleteSetting played a huge role in this story. Hawthorne wanted to create a setting in which witchcraft and evil would be feared, so he chose Puritan New England. This increases the level of fear that Brown feels for the devil and the witches. Basically, he was giving Brown cause to be so afraid.
ReplyDeleteHe used symbolism very well, i actually understood the serpant staff for being evil, being religously challenged as i am. And because of that cartoon movie about Prince Of Egypt starring Moses i understood the part about him throwing down the staff.
ReplyDeleteAnother symbol was the pink ribbons which shows faith's inncocence.
The old man was definitely the devil. The whole time they were walking on the road i was picturing a crossroads type setting, although it wasn't.
I didn't really like this story. I mean he was the one who took the Devil's offer, so technically he was the evil one, but then he has that stupid dream and thinks that everyone else is evil...is it supposed to be like a hypocritcal thing? I don't know, but all that old timey language gave me the biggest headache...thank you nathaniel hawthorne.
This story was boring and to be honest, I didn't like the Scarlet Letter. Setting was used to advance the story by the use of Salem, the town we all have learned to love from the Crucible, which helps set the story up for the references to witchcraft and evil!... and also adds mystery to some of the characters, like the person with the serpent staff.
ReplyDeleteThe setting advanced the story because it set a mood, and made thereader wonder where the story would go to next. It started off in a puritan community, very religious and drab. Then as goodman Brown enters the forest it makes you wonder where he disappeared to. As the forest gets darker and scarier you wonder why he would be going there in the first place. Finally, the red flames and the evil things the village spoke of creeped me out. It could also be a symbol of hell.
ReplyDeleteHawthorne uses the setting to advance the story because he sets it in the 1600's similar to "The Scarlet Letter", during a time period when many people were accused of witch craft. Hawthorne sets "Young Goodman Brown" in a Puritan village where everyone abides by the strict rules and morals and they are all very religious. This makes the story more interesting when young Goodman Brown comes across the witchcraft taking place and finds that many of the upstanding citizens are taking part in it as well as the lower class citizens. Also, the other person being inducted into this "cult" with him was his wife, Faith. The setting also allows for young Goodman Brown to wonder if everything he saw was a dream because the people of Salem act so normal on a daily basis, as if it never happend. I did not really like this story. I don't like Nathaniel Hawthorne's style of writing and I feel like all of the stories about the Salem witches are the same and it gets kind of old.
ReplyDeleteI thought a lot of the symbols were very easy to recognize and interpret. Within the fist couple sentences we meet goodman Brown's wife, Faith. Her name and pink ribbons represent her purity and innocence. The staff is also a symbol because it represents evil (because snakes represent evil). I personally didn't enjoy the story becaue the language made it hard to understand and it was pretty boring, kind of like The Scarlet Letter.
ReplyDeleteoh my overall reaction to this story was that it was coinfusing. I dislike Hawthorne and his old timey talk. I also don't like how he does a lot of puritan village stuff. I'm not interested in knowing that much history.
ReplyDeleteHawthorne uses the setting to advance the story because the setting gives the reader an insight as to Young Goodman Brown's character as well as his wife's. Because the setting takes place during Puritan times, it is easy for the reader to take outside knowledge of that well-known time period and use it to predict the general theme of the story. On the contrary, the forest provides a vivid contrast to the Puritan Village that Young Goodman Brown lives in. This also adds to the reader's understanding of this piece as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI was forced to decipher words as I read and found this piece to be difficult.
Hawthorne uses the setting to heighten Brown's feelings of fear and paranoia. During this time period, any action not directly sanctioned by the church was suspect. Brown is geeking, and rightly so- his shenanigans would never pass muster with the church. As Emily so rightly said, the forest creates contrast to the village, in the former he is safe and above reproach, but out in the forest he can only be up to mischief.
ReplyDeleteCinda i agree with you! I love Hawthorne as well. :) There was a lot of symbolism in this story also. Yes the old man in the woods was the devil. Goodman Brown is seen like Eve being tempted by the devil. The forest tempts Brown and by walking through the forest, he has gained knowledge. Wheither or not this was a dream Brown still gives into evil and loses his innocence. If it were a dream then evil is already a part of him. If this was real then he gave into curiosity.
ReplyDeleteWhen Brown see's Faith's pink ribbon he loses his faith because he knows that she has given up on hers. Faith was someone that kept him believing that their was good people and he seen her as the most innocent godly person, which helped him keep his faith.
Hmmmmmmmmm, I'll go for setting i suppose. The setting for this story is in New England during the Puritan times. This was a time that can be characterized by witch hunts and the Salem Witch Trials. Since Hawthorne's story is about a man who discovers that all the townspeople that he thought were religious people were actually involved in witch craft, it helps make the story more authentic.
ReplyDeleteI personally loved this story, but I love Hawthorne in general. I also loved the Crucible and Young Goodman Brown reminded me of it.
I have never read the Scarlet letter but if its by Hawthorn then I probably will find it as boring as Young Goodman Brown. Anyways there were many examples of symbolism in the story. Such as the old man in the forest which represents the devil. Also how the staff is shaped like the serpent which is associated normally with evil. Another sign of symbolism was his wifes name Faith and her pink ribbons. When the ribbons fall out its like her faith being lost.
ReplyDeleteSo this short story was definitely a difficult read for me. I found a lot of things that were in common with Scarlet Letter, which I didn't enjoy that much. The thing that kept me reading was the symbolism relating to the Bible. I liked the whole Garden of Eden vs. the forest and the serpant/temptation thing because it helped me to understand the story and the authors point a lot more than if those relationships hadn't been there.
ReplyDeleteSybolism abounds in Young Goodman Brown. The snake staff in the very beginning insinuates wickedness and blasphemy with the comparison to the Egyptians' Magi. The man leading him into the forest could be seen as the devil leading him slowly to hell. Him leaving his wife behind shows his abandonment of Faith (and his remorse in doing so). Lastly, the weather shows a sign of the devil.
ReplyDeleteHawthornes use of symbolism in the story adds to its overall... storyline? In a few ways. The first is the staff that the old man carries around. It is talked about as almost serpentlike and represents evil and misdoing. Another symbol is the pink ribbons. They represent general good annd faiths name herself represents good.
ReplyDeleteI generally found this story confusing and felt that I HAD to read it instead of wanting to.
Sorry MP the wifi was down at the hotel from the storm so i had to do this in Enrichment.
Some symbols include the serpant staff, Faith's pink ribbons, and the mysterious man in the forest. The setting of a dark and gloomy forest helps add a sense of hoplesness for Goodman Brown. The narrow path seemed to close behind Goodman Brown, preventing his escape.
ReplyDelete