Deep Allegory in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay

Deep Allegory in Young Goodman Brown Herman Melville in â€Å"Hawthorne and His Mosses† (The Literary World August 17, 24, 1850), comments on the deep allegory found within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† Young Goodman Brown? You would of course suppose that it was a simple little tale, intended as a supplement to Goody Two Shoes. Whereas, it is deep as Dante; nor can you finish it, without addressing the author in his own words--It is yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin. And with Young Goodman, too, in allegorical pursuit of his Puritan wife, you cry out in your anguish. . . . The use of allegory in his short stories is characteristic of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the†¦show more content†¦Stanley T. Williams in â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind† states that the author was always â€Å"perfecting his delicate craft of the symbol, of allegory† (42). A. N. Kaul states : â€Å"In an effort to apprehend and adequately reflect the new complexity of man’s life, he [Hawthorne] molded the venerable – in his case directly inherited – allegorical method into the modern technique of symbolism† (3). M. H. Abrams defines an allegory as a â€Å"narrative, whether in prose or verse, in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived by the author to make coherent sense on the ‘literal,’ or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of signification† (5). It is quite obvious from the names of the characters in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† that their names are contrived to give a secondary signification. Goodman is on the primary level a simple husband who is following his curiosity about evil; on the level of secondary signification he is Everyman or the new Adam: R. W. B. Lewis in â€Å"The Return into Rime: Hawthorne† states: Finally, it was Hawthorne who saw in American experience the re-creation of the story of Adam and who . . . exploited the active metaphor of the American as Adam – before and during and after the Fall† (72). Goodman responds in this wa y to the fellow-traveler when the latter implicates the governor in devilish deeds: Can this be so! cried Goodman Brown, with a stare of amazement at hisShow MoreRelatedYoung Goodman Brown Analysis876 Words   |  4 PagesHawthorne’s story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† appears to be a story about original sin with a lot of symbolism tied in to make it an allegory. An allegory is a story that can be interpreted in different ways to find the hidden meaning behind the symbolism in the story. The three things focused on throughout the short story is Faith, the forest that Goodman Brown takes his journey through, and the staff, which the old man who leads Goodman Brown on his way carries. The short story, â€Å"Young Goodman BrownRead MoreAllegory in Young Goodman Brown Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesNathaniel Hawthornes short story Young Goodman Brown is an excellent example of an allegory. Allegories use events, characters or symbolism as a bizarre or abstract representation of ideas in the story, and throughout Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne uses a hea vy amount of symbolism, as well as his characters and the events of the story line to develop a religious allegory. A large symbolic role is played by protagonist Goodman Browns wife, Faith. Also, the main event in the short story, BrownsRead MoreEssay on Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown and its Author1272 Words   |  6 Pages     Ã‚   Initially, of course, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary works went unranked among those of other American and British writers. 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Critics also debate interpretations of the main characters consciousness; is Brown awake or dreaming.   What is certain is that he lives and dies in pain because his belief in his righteousness isolates him from his community.   It is also certain that Hawthornes interpretation of Browns mid-lifeRead MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher2041 Words   |  9 Pagesstill quite popular today. One of Hawthorne’s most popular short stories include the writing of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† What makes Hawthorne so progressive in today’s literary world is the fact that he makes a smooth transition from symbolism to allegory in his writings. Edgar Allan Poe uses a more gothic style of writing that gives his science fiction literature unique character. One of Poe’s more popular stories is â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† in which he uses deep symbolism and imagery to tellRead More Absence of Absolute Good or Absolute Evil in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown1468 Words   |  6 PagesAbsence of Absolute Good or Absolute Evil in Young Goodman Brown   Ã‚  Ã‚   Lo! There ye stand, my children, said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelis nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. Depending on one anothers hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now ye are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. 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