Dylan Walton symbols in Young Goodman Brown
Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown is more powerful and noticeable than the symbolism in any other short story ever made. There are 3 major symbols in Young Goodman Brown that you will notice more than others. Nathaniel Hawthorne is very talented at using symbolism to try and prove a point and to try and make you think. Make you think about every word you read in the story and what it may symbolise. From the Faith his wife to the forest everything symbolises something. Young Goodman Brown is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that heavily used symbolism.
The first big sign of symbolism that will be found in the story is his wife Faith’s pink ribbon. He sees his wife Faith as …show more content…
He was elder but he looked the same age as Goodman Brown and had the same clothes and social rank, it was even said he resembled Goodman Brown’s father. The man’s first arrival is seen as this “His head turned back, he passed a crook in the road, and, looking forward again, beheld the figure of a man, in grave and decent attire, seated at the foot of an old tree.” (Hawthorne Page 1). Just the way he found this man was less than usual. Later in the story it is discovered that this man is the devil which was foreshadowed earlier in the story when it says “ There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,’ said Goodman Brown to himself; and he glanced fearfully behind him as he added, ‘What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow.” (Hawthorne Page 1). This man is supposed to represent the devil in which he guides Goodman Brown to his evil deeds. Also although this man is the same age and social rank as Goodman Brown he has lived long enough to know things of Goodman Brown’s father and Grandfather before him. Other than that he is the same social rank but has done all these high class things with all these high class people. Not only is the man of a symbol in the way he acts and the things he talks about, but the staff he is found carrying is brought up shortly after they meet. “But the only thing about him that could be fixed upon as remarkable was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake,” (Hawthorne Page 2). Everyone knows about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They were told they could eat from any tree in the garden except one, Eve was curious of what would happen so when Satan came in the form of a serpent he tried to talk her into just trying it. The serpent has been a symbol of the devil for years and years so this too supports that the man is the
Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown is more powerful and noticeable than the symbolism in any other short story ever made. There are 3 major symbols in Young Goodman Brown that you will notice more than others. Nathaniel Hawthorne is very talented at using symbolism to try and prove a point and to try and make you think. Make you think about every word you read in the story and what it may symbolise. From the Faith his wife to the forest everything symbolises something. Young Goodman Brown is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne that heavily used symbolism.
The first big sign of symbolism that will be found in the story is his wife Faith’s pink ribbon. He sees his wife Faith as …show more content…
He was elder but he looked the same age as Goodman Brown and had the same clothes and social rank, it was even said he resembled Goodman Brown’s father. The man’s first arrival is seen as this “His head turned back, he passed a crook in the road, and, looking forward again, beheld the figure of a man, in grave and decent attire, seated at the foot of an old tree.” (Hawthorne Page 1). Just the way he found this man was less than usual. Later in the story it is discovered that this man is the devil which was foreshadowed earlier in the story when it says “ There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,’ said Goodman Brown to himself; and he glanced fearfully behind him as he added, ‘What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow.” (Hawthorne Page 1). This man is supposed to represent the devil in which he guides Goodman Brown to his evil deeds. Also although this man is the same age and social rank as Goodman Brown he has lived long enough to know things of Goodman Brown’s father and Grandfather before him. Other than that he is the same social rank but has done all these high class things with all these high class people. Not only is the man of a symbol in the way he acts and the things he talks about, but the staff he is found carrying is brought up shortly after they meet. “But the only thing about him that could be fixed upon as remarkable was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake,” (Hawthorne Page 2). Everyone knows about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They were told they could eat from any tree in the garden except one, Eve was curious of what would happen so when Satan came in the form of a serpent he tried to talk her into just trying it. The serpent has been a symbol of the devil for years and years so this too supports that the man is the