Essay On Symbolism And Allegory In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Symbolism and allegory are two powerful tools in the hands of a talented writer. Many authors choose to rely heavily on symbolism and allegory when relating truths that pertain to moral, religious, and philosophical issues. Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is a prime example of such a literary work. The story in its entirety is an allegory for the journey of one who chooses a life of faith and the choices one must make daily in order to stay on that path. As the story moves along, it provides rich symbolism that enhances its religious message. The reasons for using symbolism and allegory to enrich the story in this way are numerous; people respond best when allowed to come to moral conclusions on their own, an allegorical narrative makes applying moral truth to life easier, and using allegory along with symbolism allows the writer to cover multiple moral, religious and philosophical issues without being specific to one authority. It is human nature to feel the need to discover moral truths “the hard way.” There is no real reason for Goodman Brown to journey into the dark forest that …show more content…
The narrative can be seen as a struggle between good and evil from a Christian perspective or from a moral perspective with no affiliation towards God or religion. Philosophically Hawthorne poses the question whether or not a man battles himself or supernatural forces in his quest for a good life when he asks, “Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting,” (page 349). Readers of a Christian faith will, most likely, relate to the symbol of the companion’s staff being snake-like to the temptation Eve felt from the serpent in the Garden of Eden. However, a non-Christian may interpret the serpent to be a more universal representation of