Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family was deep rooted in the Puritan religion, which could explain his strong morals and interest in religion and faith. Faith is a private symbol for Nathaniel Hawthorne because it reaches across many of his works. In Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown, for example, Brown’s wife represents religious faith and the many phases that someone with faith will go through in their lives.
When the story starts, Young Goodman Brown is preparing to leave on a journey. His wife, conveniently named Faith, tries to convince him to wait until morning to leave. She, like religious faith, is trying to protect him. She hints around that the night that Brown is leaving on is a dangerous night to be outside of the protective walls of their household. Faith, trying to look after her husband, unsuccessfully convinces him to stay home. Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to get across to the reader that faith can protect them, just like Faith tries to protect Young Goodman Brown.
As Brown enters the forest, he meets a traveler. The traveler tries to convince him into going a little further, but Brown says that his wife would be heartbroken if she found out that he was …show more content…
He sees all the people from the ritual just going about their daily lives. When he sees his wife—who is happy to see her husband back from his journey—he just looks at her sadly and passes on without greeting her. He ends up staying with Faith, and they have many children and grandchildren. However, Young Goodman Brown left that forest a different man. He became miserable and stern, and when he finally died, his funeral was not a celebration of his life, but a sad funeral about a miserable man. Hawthorne is pointing out that if the faith that one has is preached but not practiced (or even practiced half-heartedly, like Goodman Brown practiced his marriage), then life will be a long and unhappy
When the story starts, Young Goodman Brown is preparing to leave on a journey. His wife, conveniently named Faith, tries to convince him to wait until morning to leave. She, like religious faith, is trying to protect him. She hints around that the night that Brown is leaving on is a dangerous night to be outside of the protective walls of their household. Faith, trying to look after her husband, unsuccessfully convinces him to stay home. Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to get across to the reader that faith can protect them, just like Faith tries to protect Young Goodman Brown.
As Brown enters the forest, he meets a traveler. The traveler tries to convince him into going a little further, but Brown says that his wife would be heartbroken if she found out that he was …show more content…
He sees all the people from the ritual just going about their daily lives. When he sees his wife—who is happy to see her husband back from his journey—he just looks at her sadly and passes on without greeting her. He ends up staying with Faith, and they have many children and grandchildren. However, Young Goodman Brown left that forest a different man. He became miserable and stern, and when he finally died, his funeral was not a celebration of his life, but a sad funeral about a miserable man. Hawthorne is pointing out that if the faith that one has is preached but not practiced (or even practiced half-heartedly, like Goodman Brown practiced his marriage), then life will be a long and unhappy