The Puritan Influence in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel...

The Puritan Influence in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† (repr. in Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 8th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 2002] 316) is a short story with strong Puritan influence. Puritanism is a religion demanding strict moral conduct and strong faith. Puritans held that Christians should do only what the Bible commanded. Analyzing â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is dependant upon understanding the Puritan faith. The influence of the Puritan religion is vivid in literary elements such as setting, allegory, and theme. The primary setting of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is the forest. The Puritans believed that the woods were evil†¦show more content†¦This statement helps show the strong conviction of the Puritans. The other setting of the story is Salem Village. Salem Village is historically most famous for the controversial Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were sparked by the political motives and imaginations of the townspeople. Many Puritans were sentenced to death for suspicion of witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials also contributed to the taboo feeling of the forest. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† is full of allegorical content relating to the Puritan religion. The names of the characters in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† are the most profound examples of allegory influenced by Puritanism. The protagonist, Goodman Brown, has a name that suggests far more than just a name. â€Å"Goodman Brown† for example, is a name that presents the character as a good moralistic man that at all costs resists temptation. Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, has a name that assists in illustrating the downfall of Goodman Brown. After seeing Faith in the forest, Goodman Brown cries, â€Å"My Faith is gone!†(323). His wife, Faith was gone along with his spiritual faith. We first see Goodman Brown as a moral Puritan man, and after loosing his faith he becomes the opposite. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† has a theme of Puritan nature as well. People often dwell on life’s uncertainties so much that they loose the ability to enjoy life. Goodman Brown had a curiosity that made him travel into the wickedShow MoreRelatedNathaniel Hawthornes Literature During Early America1560 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthornes literature exhibits the influence of many factors. Much of his literature addresses Puritan culture in early America, commonly focusing on the shortcomings and hypocrisies that became apparent during the numerous witch hunts. Many of his works are allegorical, using the Puritan setting to portray his own ideas about ancestry, history, and religion. While The Scarlet Letter and House of the Seven Gables are among Hawthornes most known works, he produced a large sum of workRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1543 Words   |  7 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne s short story of Young Goodman Brown, the author uses symbol ism and allegories in order to showcase the Puritan faith as well as man s conflict between good and evil. This analysis will break down the techniques that the author uses to critique the puritan society and to show the difference between how people appear to be in society and the true colors that they are hidden inside of them. There has been a lot of great authors in our time, but none more interesting thanRead MoreShort Story Analysis: Young Goodman Brown Essay1115 Words   |  5 Pagesa great author, but none more intriguing than Nathaniel Hawthorne. 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Hawthorne wrote this story to illustrations how temptation and the views of others can influence the way an individual lives. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† takes place in the 1800s during the time of the Salem Witch Trials; where emphasis was positioned on the strict moral rules and the searchRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne s Young Goodman Brown1492 Words   |  6 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story of Young Goodman Brown, the author uses symbolism and allegories in order to showcase the Puritan faith as well as man’s conflict between good and evil. This analysis will breakdown the techniques that the author uses to critique the puritan society, and to show the difference between how people appear to be in society and the true colors that they are hidden inside of them. 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Because man had broken the Covenant of Works when Adam had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, God offered a new covenant to Abrahams people which held that election to Heaven was merely a possibility.   In the Puritan religion, believers dutifully recognized the negative aspects