Nature as revealer In Good Youngman Brown, nature plays the role of stripping away all that is familiar until only questions are left. Originally, Brown viewed nature as a means to attain salvation, and set off into the woods to do so. However, Nature shifts Brown’s plans by forcing him to view people he knew in a darker and more demonic light, and starts questioning Brown’s own values. As Young journeys deeper into the forest, he loses more layers of himself until his inner most thoughts are revealed. For Young, Nature removes the outward appearance and reveals the true person beneath the surface, and leaves him to question what happened. As first stated, young enters the forest with the hope of attaining access to heaven (Hawthorne 190).
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This is the first attempt to question what Brown has known all his life (Kumral 1). In fact, Brown traveled into the woods in order delve deeper into his spiritual life (Kumral 1). This makes sense, as Hawthorne describes the woods as such: “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep throught”, (Hawthorne 2). This is normal when one explores the unknown, it is hard to grasp and even harder to understand (Kumral 1). Brown expresses the first question about his life when he stumbles onto Goody Closy in the woods. The footnotes states the Goody Closy short for goodwife, a title of respect for married women (Hawthorne 193). The denial of this nature by Goody Closy working in the woods is another effect of nature, it has stripped off Goody Closy’s identity. Another person who Brown sees in the woods is the Deacon Gookin (Hawthorne 195). However, this time, Brown hides form the deacon and over hears his conversation: “I had rather miss an ordination dinner than to-night’s meeting. They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond.” (Hawthorne 196). The deacon has accepted his role as a leader, but is going in the opposite direction, one of a satanic cult rather than that of a Christian minister. Kumral expands on the meaning of this by stating that Deacon Gookin is a teacher, and is expected to inform and guide those who believe in his faith (412). However, once in the forest, Gookin is another member of the satanic cult that is meeting there. In fact, the forest is what causes these changes in
This is the first attempt to question what Brown has known all his life (Kumral 1). In fact, Brown traveled into the woods in order delve deeper into his spiritual life (Kumral 1). This makes sense, as Hawthorne describes the woods as such: “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep throught”, (Hawthorne 2). This is normal when one explores the unknown, it is hard to grasp and even harder to understand (Kumral 1). Brown expresses the first question about his life when he stumbles onto Goody Closy in the woods. The footnotes states the Goody Closy short for goodwife, a title of respect for married women (Hawthorne 193). The denial of this nature by Goody Closy working in the woods is another effect of nature, it has stripped off Goody Closy’s identity. Another person who Brown sees in the woods is the Deacon Gookin (Hawthorne 195). However, this time, Brown hides form the deacon and over hears his conversation: “I had rather miss an ordination dinner than to-night’s meeting. They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond.” (Hawthorne 196). The deacon has accepted his role as a leader, but is going in the opposite direction, one of a satanic cult rather than that of a Christian minister. Kumral expands on the meaning of this by stating that Deacon Gookin is a teacher, and is expected to inform and guide those who believe in his faith (412). However, once in the forest, Gookin is another member of the satanic cult that is meeting there. In fact, the forest is what causes these changes in