StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Discuss symbolism in the following two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil Literature is like a laboratory where life and all that happens or can happen in it are examined. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.7% of users find it useful
Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Ministers Black Veil
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil"

Discuss symbolism in the following two short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil Literature is like a laboratory where life and all that happens or can happen in it are examined. However, the author has a prerogative over which symbol he uses. This is because literature is often subjected to the whims and caprices of not only reality and imagination, but also to the dictates of the intentions of the author. Symbolism refers to the way of expressing something in a work of art such that the characteristics of a person or group of people or age are represented as lucidly as possible.

Symbolism is the most important in the story because it is the one through which the author is able to impress the essence of his story upon the reader. Nathaniel Hawthorne used several symbols in Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil to describe acts, subjects and persons in the two plays and the most prominent symbols used shall be discussed in this paper. In Young Goodman Brown, the devil’s staff that was surrounded by a sculpted serpent was symbolic of the serpent in the book of Genesis.

The serpent was used to symbolize an evil demon. The devil told Goodman Brown that the staff would help him to travel faster and this is quite symbolic to the serpent in the bible that told Eve that eating the forbidden fruit would make her wiser. This further corroborates the argument that the devil’s staff is symbolic to the serpent in the book of Genesis. However, Goodman Brown followed the instruction of the devil and was punished for being a weakling and losing his innocence and this is also synonymous to the punishment that was meted on Adam and Eve for following the counsel of the serpent.

It should also be noted that just like Eve’s curiosity made her eat the forbidden fruit, it was Goodman Brown’s curiosity that influenced his decision to go into the forest. Another symbol that was used in Young Goodman Brown is the pink ribbon that was used by Faith. Faith’s pink ribbon is symbolic of her purity and this can be seen if one considers the fact the color, ‘pink’ embodies purity and gaiety. Ribbons are decorations that are used to show modesty and innocence and this show that the fact that Faith wore a pink ribbon means that Hawthorne was trying to explain to readers that she was a virtuous girl that had a pure nature.

The symbolism of the pink ribbon would be seen when Goodman Brown sees the flapping of a pink ribbon from the sky as a sign that Faith had compromised her innocence and purity. After the pink ribbon fluttered from the sky, Goodman Brown shouted that, “My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. ‘There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is the world given.’” (Hawthorne 23). However, when Goodman Brown sees Faith wearing her pink ribbon, it was a sign that she had returned to her state of innocence and purity.

The Minister’s Black Veil is another book that Nathaniel Hawthorne used different symbols to represent the acts and characters of the play. The Black Veil that was worn by the minister was used to symbolize the evil and secret sin of human nature. The Veil could have represented the minister as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but it was actually worn by Rev. Hooper to separate himself from the sin that he saw every day. The minister probably perceived the evil nature of the world and was probably hiding some sins and this was the reason that he wore the black veil.

The sight of Rev. Hooper wearing a black veil also reminds his congregation of their secret sins. Black is symbolic of evil and the covering of the face by a veil shows how Rev. Hooper tried to protect himself from the sins of the member of his congregation. The Black Veil is also symbolic of the minister’s ineffectiveness in catering for the spiritual needs of his congregation (Hawthorne). As revealed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil, there are many symbols that can be used to represent different acts and characters.

These symbols help the intuition of the readers and make them have a feel of the message that the author is trying to pass across. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Minister’s Black Veil. Rockville, MD: BompaCrazy.com, 1979. Web. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Rockville, MD: Wildside Press LLC, 2005. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/other/1406111-nathaniel-hawthorne-young-goodman-brown-and-the-ministers-black-veil
(Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister'S Black Veil Essay)
https://studentshare.org/other/1406111-nathaniel-hawthorne-young-goodman-brown-and-the-ministers-black-veil.
“Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister'S Black Veil Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/other/1406111-nathaniel-hawthorne-young-goodman-brown-and-the-ministers-black-veil.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown and The Minister's Black Veil

Characterization and Symbolism

In his short story “young goodman brown, Hawthorne speaks about search for truth and morality, a conflict between sin, evil and faith.... Thesis In this short… ry, Hawthorne uses unique symbols and elements of characterization which help the author to describe the main characters and create unique atmosphere and settings. Hawthorne uses symbolic names for the main characters, Faith and goodman brown, which attracts readers' Hawthorne writes “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap while she called to goodman brown” (Hawthorne)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Although Nathanial hawthorne wrote his stories in the middle of the nineteenth century, he wrote them using a style and subject matter that accurately reflected the ideals and way of life of early colonists in Puritan-influenced New England.... The resulting self-distrust was to be permanently in conflict with hawthorne's innate pride” (Erlich, 1984).... Although he was strongly encouraged to take up the family trade and become a merchant marine, hawthorne had decided, by age 17, that he wanted to be a writer....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown

The story revolves around a young man named goodman brown and one particular night in his life which would forever change his life and his perception of the people and the world around him.... The story young goodman brown is set, as most of his… The story goes beyond the cult, however, and is about the universality of evil and the loss of faith in mankind.... It explores the duality of young goodman brown is a satire on Puritanism and what Hawthorne perceives to be its hypocrisies....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Minister's Black Veil

Hawthorne through his work 'the minister's black veil' tends to identify individual flaws with the universal character of mankind using a symbol, which hides the physical but reveals the abstract.... The paper "minister's black veil" presents that the human world has been ridden with sins since the creation began.... rdquo; Nathaniel Hawthorne has incorporated this theme in some of his works of great significance, for instance, 'The Scarlet Letter' and 'young goodman brown'....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Irony in Young Goodman Brown

In the paper “Irony in young goodman brown” the author analyzes explicit irony in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'young goodman brown'.... Irony in ‘young goodman brown' An instance of extremely explicit irony in Nathaniel Hawthorne's ‘young goodman brown' is the chosen for GoodmanBrown's wife—Faith.... Once reading ‘young goodman brown,' it becomes quite obvious to the readers that Nathaniel Hawthorne is rather concerned with the Puritan society and especially in the part of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Similarities in the Way the View of the Two Writers Belonged to Different Epochs

a priest whose face is covered with a veil (“the minister's black veil”), a snake hiding in a man's chest (“The egotism, or Bosom serpent”), the protagonist talking to his twin in the looking glass (“Monsieur du Miroir”), s girl made of snow plays with other children (“The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle”).... a priest whose face is covered with a veil (“the minister's black veil”), a snake hiding in a man's chest (“The egotism, or Bosom serpent”), the protagonist talking to his twin in the looking glass (“Monsieur du Miroir”), s girl made of snow plays with other children (“The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle”)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The story of young goodman brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a piece of work that depicts the aspects of good and evil.... Instead of being corrupted by some outside force, goodman brown makes a personal choice to go into the forest and meet with the devil.... The choice was the true danger, the devil only facilitates goodman brown's fall.... The paper analyzes the symbolism which is used to depict goodman's experience in and out of the forest enhancing the understanding of the concept of good and evil....
8 Pages (2000 words) Book Report/Review

Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Story

The paper “Hawthorne's young goodman brown Story” delves on the influence of Hawthorne's Puritan religion on the story of Hawthorne's young goodman brown story.... The story delves into the goodman brown feeling he is the only person who is not under Satan's within Brown's community.... nathaniel hawthorne based the intricacies of his popular 1935 novel on his New England community background and ancestry.... nathaniel hawthorne is a puritan....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us