The short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is filled with many layers of symbolism that include both characters, such a Faith, and objects, such as the staffs. These symbols are used in various events to create a structure for deeper meaning in the novel. Such events include Young Goodman Brown’s constant turning back towards his wife and his acceptance of the staff. The final culmination of these events is a moral theme that accounts for both the literal and symbolic angles that the story is told from. The moral of “Young Goodman Brown,” illustrated through symbolism, is that sinfulness is inherently intertwined with human nature and the more anyone concerns themselves with it the more havoc it wreaks on their life. This
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Not only does she serve the role as Young Goodman Brown’s literal wife, but she is also symbolically representative of his religious faith. A quote that can help establish this can be found when Hawthorne says, “‘My love and my Faith,’ replied Young Goodman Brown, ...” (1). Here Young Goodman Brown refers to his wife in a way that can easily be interpreted as either her name of as being his literal faith. This is important because Young Goodman Brown leaves her behind at home and puts her in jeopardy when he heads off and travels on the dark forest path. This can be seen in another quote, “‘Faith kept me back a while,’ replied the young man, ...” (Hawthorne 1). The significance here is in strengthening the connection Faith and faith as well as demonstrating that what Young Goodman Brown is doing goes against both his wife’s wished and his religious …show more content…
These symbolize Faith’s innocence and almost childish purity by remaining with her as long as she is considered innocent. The color pink can be seen as a mix of white for purity and red for sin. A significant source of information pertaining to the mood typically associated with the ribbons is found Hawthorne says, “ ... he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons” (1). This establishes the typically positive and happy mood that the ribbons are typically related to in addition to showing the close connection between Faith’s early character and the pink ribbons. Another important quote to understanding the symbolism and importance of the pink ribbons is, “But something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon. ‘My Faith is gone!’ cried he, after one stupefied moment” (Hawthorne 5). Not only does this finalize the symbolic connection between the ribbons and Faith’s purity, but it also shows how it is Young Goodman Brown’s actions on the dark path that lead to the loss of his faith and Faith’s
Not only does she serve the role as Young Goodman Brown’s literal wife, but she is also symbolically representative of his religious faith. A quote that can help establish this can be found when Hawthorne says, “‘My love and my Faith,’ replied Young Goodman Brown, ...” (1). Here Young Goodman Brown refers to his wife in a way that can easily be interpreted as either her name of as being his literal faith. This is important because Young Goodman Brown leaves her behind at home and puts her in jeopardy when he heads off and travels on the dark forest path. This can be seen in another quote, “‘Faith kept me back a while,’ replied the young man, ...” (Hawthorne 1). The significance here is in strengthening the connection Faith and faith as well as demonstrating that what Young Goodman Brown is doing goes against both his wife’s wished and his religious …show more content…
These symbolize Faith’s innocence and almost childish purity by remaining with her as long as she is considered innocent. The color pink can be seen as a mix of white for purity and red for sin. A significant source of information pertaining to the mood typically associated with the ribbons is found Hawthorne says, “ ... he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons” (1). This establishes the typically positive and happy mood that the ribbons are typically related to in addition to showing the close connection between Faith’s early character and the pink ribbons. Another important quote to understanding the symbolism and importance of the pink ribbons is, “But something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon. ‘My Faith is gone!’ cried he, after one stupefied moment” (Hawthorne 5). Not only does this finalize the symbolic connection between the ribbons and Faith’s purity, but it also shows how it is Young Goodman Brown’s actions on the dark path that lead to the loss of his faith and Faith’s