When comparing two literary works, there is a lot to consider that make them similar or different. There are a lot of different aspects that go into creating a literary work, and so comparing two works can often be a complex process. In Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil there are many similarities and differences in these two works. The moods of the work are very similar, both have an air of mystery and darkness. This mood and atmosphere is created through multiple different techniques, such as symbolism, imagery and setting. Because of the similarities of both of these works, you can tell that they are written by the same author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first aspect of the two works that can be compared to each other is
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The symbolism is obvious in The Minister’s Black Veil, with the veil implying the secrets and burdens that we carry around with us every day. Hawthorne even uses the word symbol when describing the veil, “Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends. No mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separate me from the world” (Hawthorne 641). This is a very literal translation of the symbol that Hawthorne is trying to convey by having the minister wear the veil in his work. But in Young Goodman Brown, the symbolism is much more discrete, and a part of the work you have to look for to find. The forest in the story is the major symbol in the story of Young Goodman Brown, and the forest is a symbol of darkness and evil. When Young Goodman Brown went into the forest, it is symbolizing the man entering himself into a situation of letting himself be taken over by the forces of evil that he is exposing himself to by entering the forest. “The …show more content…
Both of the readings paint the picture of the men dying alone with their evil aspects of them hidden from the world. In the final sentences of Young Goodman Brown, “And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, and aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tomb-stone; for his dying hour was gloom” (Hawthorne 628). And in The Minister’s Black Veil, “The grass of many years has sprung up and withered on that grave, the burial-stone is moss-grown, and good Mr. Hooper’s face is dust; but awful is still the though, that is moldered beneath the black veil!” (Hawthorne 645). These last sentences paint the dying times of both men as lonely and sad, with no one knowing their pain and suffering in the face of
The symbolism is obvious in The Minister’s Black Veil, with the veil implying the secrets and burdens that we carry around with us every day. Hawthorne even uses the word symbol when describing the veil, “Know, then, this veil is a type and a symbol, and I am bound to wear it ever, both in light and darkness, in solitude and before the gaze of multitudes, and as with strangers, so with my familiar friends. No mortal eye will see it withdrawn. This dismal shade must separate me from the world” (Hawthorne 641). This is a very literal translation of the symbol that Hawthorne is trying to convey by having the minister wear the veil in his work. But in Young Goodman Brown, the symbolism is much more discrete, and a part of the work you have to look for to find. The forest in the story is the major symbol in the story of Young Goodman Brown, and the forest is a symbol of darkness and evil. When Young Goodman Brown went into the forest, it is symbolizing the man entering himself into a situation of letting himself be taken over by the forces of evil that he is exposing himself to by entering the forest. “The …show more content…
Both of the readings paint the picture of the men dying alone with their evil aspects of them hidden from the world. In the final sentences of Young Goodman Brown, “And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, and aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tomb-stone; for his dying hour was gloom” (Hawthorne 628). And in The Minister’s Black Veil, “The grass of many years has sprung up and withered on that grave, the burial-stone is moss-grown, and good Mr. Hooper’s face is dust; but awful is still the though, that is moldered beneath the black veil!” (Hawthorne 645). These last sentences paint the dying times of both men as lonely and sad, with no one knowing their pain and suffering in the face of