Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories have been passed down through almost two centuries of audiences. Specializing in a style of dark romanticism, Hawthorne left many critics grasping for answers about the core meaning behind his eerie tales. Piercing through the veil of darkness, guilt, and sin, peculiar similarities begin to provide answers to the cornerstone of Hawthorne’s writing. Stories such as Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil connect the dots comprised of darkness, guilt, and sin. Delving deep into the maze of Hawthorne’s writing, what will be the real message intended for audiences.
Critics ranging from past to current have been fixated by the darkness and supernatural aspects surrounding Hawthorne’s writing and its comparison …show more content…
Special consideration is placed on the interior monologue of goodman Brown when leaving to go on his journey, “Poor little Faith…What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand!” (387). This provides the initial crack in the façade towards the question of faith. This moment also foreshadows the question presented by the narrator, “Had goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? (395). Hawthorne seems to provide evidence to support both, but why? The question itself seems oddly shallow and out of place to the complex theme; it acts as a distraction. As presented earlier, Faith is the central theme of this story. Whether goodman Brown experienced the horror of his journey in the woods mentally or physically is irrelevant because they can both be proven to be correct. Those that believe it was a dream can provide the lapse of time between events as evidence when goodman Brown seemingly wakes up in the forest. Those that believe the events were real can provide, “…a hanging twig, that had been on fire, besprinkled his cheek…” as evidence to the festivity of the devil’s baptism. Both conveniently provide only circumstantial evidence. The distraction of this question is what Hawthorne is demonstrating in plain view throughout the story. Where is your (the reader’s)
Critics ranging from past to current have been fixated by the darkness and supernatural aspects surrounding Hawthorne’s writing and its comparison …show more content…
Special consideration is placed on the interior monologue of goodman Brown when leaving to go on his journey, “Poor little Faith…What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand!” (387). This provides the initial crack in the façade towards the question of faith. This moment also foreshadows the question presented by the narrator, “Had goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? (395). Hawthorne seems to provide evidence to support both, but why? The question itself seems oddly shallow and out of place to the complex theme; it acts as a distraction. As presented earlier, Faith is the central theme of this story. Whether goodman Brown experienced the horror of his journey in the woods mentally or physically is irrelevant because they can both be proven to be correct. Those that believe it was a dream can provide the lapse of time between events as evidence when goodman Brown seemingly wakes up in the forest. Those that believe the events were real can provide, “…a hanging twig, that had been on fire, besprinkled his cheek…” as evidence to the festivity of the devil’s baptism. Both conveniently provide only circumstantial evidence. The distraction of this question is what Hawthorne is demonstrating in plain view throughout the story. Where is your (the reader’s)