Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864

• Born in Salem, Massachusetts

• Puritan Background• Ancestor of John

Hathorne – one of the three judges in the Salem Witch Trials

Hawthorne’s Background

• Began writing after college at Bowdion College in Maine

• Spent many years in seclusion – starving artist

• Held many jobs including writer, publisher, working at a custom house, and consul in England

More Background

• Married Sophie Peabody in 1825

• Was friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, and President Franklin Pierce

His Themes in Writing

• Moral allegories• The sinful man• Hypocrisy• The Dark side of

Human Nature• Religious in

Nature

His Most Famous Works

• Novels– The House of Seven

Gables– The Scarlet Letter

• Short Stories– “The Minister’s Black

Veil”– “Young Goodman

Brown”

Who were the Puritans?

• Wanted a “pure” church– No candles– No Images– No stained glass windows

• Rejected the “showy” church of England

• Led very somber lives governed solely by a strict interpretation of the Bible

• No “nonsense” – dancing, gambling, drama, etc

Basic Beliefs of the Puritan Church

• Jesus Christ is the Son of God – died on the cross for all everyone’s sins

• The whole Bible is the word of God and it is to be followed to the letter.

• The belief that these ideas are fact are known as a person’s faith

Basic Beliefs of the Puritan Church

• Faith is what is necessary to get into heaven.

• If you don’t go to heaven you go to hell.

• Sins, as defined by the Bible, are to be avoided at cut out of life

• A catechism is a book that is used to teach basic principles of the church

The Infamous Puritans

• The Salem Witch Trials put the Puritans prominently in the history books

• Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible put it in Literature classes forever

And Now, Nathanial Hawthorn’s Short

Story

“Young Goodman Brown”

Some Basics…

• Characters– Young

Goodman Brown

– His wife, Faith

– Mysterious man in the forest with a strange looking staff

Some Basics…

• Minor Character’s Notes…– Constable: person in law

enforcement– Deacon: position in church

held by congregation member

– Goody: abbr. of “goodwife”, female version of goodman

– Reverend: pastor– Sabbath: day of rest in the

Judo/Christian church – in this case, Sunday

“ Young Goodman Brown”

• Setting:– 17th century, Salem, a

common setting for Hawthorne's works

• Themes: – the conflict between good

and evil in human nature and, in particular, the problem of public goodness and private wickedness

Plot• Recent marriage

– Faith– Why is her name important?

• Traveling companion is, in fact, the Devil, – What is the purpose of their

journey?• discovers others also

proceeding to the meeting

– Who? Why did their presence surprise Goodman Brown?

• loss of Faith– What does he resolve to do?

YGB as an Allegory

• What is an allegory?– A story where everything is a

symbol– Used commonly to instruct

especially in religious matters– Some famous allegories are:

• Dante’s Divine Comedy (more famous though is the first part commonly known as Dante’s Inferno

• John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” – Basics

• Why?– See Genesis Chapter 3

The Snake Satan-- The Devil

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” - Basics• The Forest

• Evil / Sin

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” – Basics

• Stars / Sky / Heavenly Bodies

• Heaven / Connection with God

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” - Basics

• White Purity

• Red Sin [why?]

• Pink ???

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” - Basics

• Fire

• Hell

The Allegory of “Young Goodman Brown” – now, not basic

• Young Goodman Brown• The common Christian man –

brown is neutral

• Faith• A Christian’s faith

• Witches• Satan / Evil

• Imagery: words and phrases that re-create vivid sensory experiences for the reader. Usually imagery is visual, but often it is written to the senses of smell, hearing, taste, and touch

Another literary term

Before Reading

– Why are people today fascinated with stories about witchcraft, sorcery, and magic? 

– Journey of initiation

Points for Discussion

• Setting• Symbols

– The forest as Eden– Primordial symbols– Faith

• Dream v. Reality• Brown as Thrill-seeker

The Result

• uncertain whether his experience was real or only a dream

• He lives out his days an embittered and suspicious cynic

• "And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave...they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom."

Id Versus Superego 

• village – consciousness, superego• forest – unconscious, id

• Brown – ego• devil – Brown’s alter ego• Faith – Brown’s alter ego • old tree, serpent, ribbon

• overactive suppression, tyrannous superego

   imbalance of head versus heart

Themes• How the Puritans’ strict moral

code and overemphasis on the sinfulness of humankind foster undue suspicion and distrust.

• The realization that evil can infect people who seem upright.

• One man’s virtue is another man’s sin, and vice versa.

Discussion Questions• Discuss situations and circumstances that

cause people in today’s society to enter a “dark forest,” as Goodman Brown did.

• Does Goodman Brown really attend a witches' sabbath or does he dream about it?

• Why does Goodman Brown become "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man" after his experience in ....the forest? 

• Research the life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Then write an essay discussing the extent to which his family background influenced him ....when he wrote "Young Goodman Brown."

Final Thoughts

• After Goodman Brown returns from the forest, he becomes a cynical man. Does he see evil where there is goodness? Identify “witch hunts” that are occurring today in your community or your country? For example, are people on one side of an issue attempting to discredit people on the other side of the issue by using unfair tactics that impugn the latter's reputation?

Spectral Evidence

• Spectral evidence includes testimony about dreams and visions, accepted as evidence in court. Spectral evidence was admitted at the Salem witch trials by the appointed chief justice.

Questioning Faith

• Hawthorne is highlighting the disillusionment that many Christians face at some point in their spiritual journey.– Christians present at ritual– Questioning the validity of

faith