Critical Analysis Of Young Goodman Brown :: Free Essay Writer

Critical Analysis of Young Goodman BrownNathaniel Hawthorne&8217s short story of Young Goodman Brown is a reflection of the Puritan faith as well as man&8217s conflict between good and grievous. This analysis will emphasize on the theme of Young Goodman Brown as well Hawthorne&8217s usage of symbolism and allegories throughout the story.Literary dilettante D.M. McKeithan says that the theme of the story is sin and the nasty effect sin has on mankind. McKeithan also believes that the theme to Hawthorne&8217s Young Goodman Brown, is based on the ability that lousiness has to persuade man to do defame and the falseness of man&8217s virtues. The protagonist in the story, Brown, journeyed in the woods where he discovered that his Puritan community is not virtuous. Brown discovered that the wide-cut community including his wife, whom is portrayed as being pure, indulges in sin and therefore Brown&8217s life turns dark due to his loss of hope. Literary critic Mark Van Doren states&82 20Young Goodman Brown means exactly what it says, namely that its hero left his pretty young wife one evening &8230 to walk by himself in a primitive New England woods, the Devil&8217s territory,&8230and either to dream or actually to experience (Hawthorne will not say) the discovery that evil exist in every humane heart&8230Brown is changed. He thinks there is no good on earth&8230Brown, waking from his dream, if it was a dream,&8230sees evil even where it is not&8230He had stumbled upon that &8220mystery of sin which, rightly understood, provides the only sane and cheerful view of life there is. Understand in Brown&8217s fashion, if darkens and sours the world, withering hope and charity, and perverting whatever is truly good until it looks like evil at its worst like blasphemy and hypocrisy. (Van Doren 234)McKeithan says that Hawthorne is saying that in every human heart there is sin, but the story does not emphasize on sin alone, it emphasizes on the effects of sin. McKeithan s tates that to interpret Young Goodman Brown, the reader must machinate the distinction between sin and the effects of sin.Literary critic David Levin says that Brown allows the Devil&8217s statements about the persecution of Indians and the Quakers allows him to accept the false statements of the Devil. Therefore Brown fails to fall upon the difference between a single person and actions of people as a whole. Levin says that Hawthorne&8217s way of writing Young Goodman Brown gives a die interpretation of the meaning.