Young Goodman Brown Symbolism Essay - 1205 Words

Young Goodman Brown is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Written in 1835, the story deals with a late night meeting between a man and the Devil. On the surface this is all the story is, but if one looks closer one would find the story to be littered with symbolic images. Brown has been married to his wife aptly named Faith, for only three months. Three months is a very short time and this can symbolize that he lacks an attachment to faith. He is willing to stray from his own wife to go on his journey at night. Brown knows that what lies at the end of his journey of the woods is not good, but he only sees it as a one time occasion. Goodman Brown even says to himself â€Å"Well; she s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I ll†¦show more content†¦Come, devil, for thee is this world given. He has given up and welcomes the devil. I think one of the biggest symbols in the story was Satan himself. When we hear the word Satan we think, hell, fire, he it the symbol for ultimate evil and Brown himself continues that tradition. Satan represents a number of things in the story like evil lies within all of us. When Goodman Brown first had a meeting in the woods, Satan is described as an older version of Brown, apparently in the same rank of life as Goodman Brown, and bearing a considerable resemblance to him, though more in expression than features. Still they might have been taken for father and son. In human form, Satan carries with him, a walking stick in the shape of a snake. Since the story of Adam and Eve, snakes have been symbolic representation of Satan. The story of Young Goodman Brown is one that works on two very different levels. On it s surface, the story is nothing more than about a man who experiences a quite literally hellish event. When looked at deeper, the story is a much deeper meaning of the importance of faith, and how easily a person can be made or broken by it. Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston is a short story of Delia Jones, a humble, timid woman trapped in a marriage with an abusive cheating man who kind of enjoys mistreating and abusing her. The story opens up on a spring night in Florida, with Delia busy going about her job as a washwoman.Show MoreRelated The Symbolism of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay2725 Words   |  11 PagesThe Symbolism of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† shows the reader the author’s power as a symbolist.    Frederick C. Crews in â€Å"The Logic of Compulsion in ‘Roger Malvin’s Burial’† explores the symbology that prevails in Hawthorne’s best short stories:    . . . 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