The reason for this is possibly because his family’s history stretches back to the early days of the Salem Witch Trials where he became well acquainted with Puritan society. Being a master of symbolism, Hawthorne successfully conveys his message of acknowledgement of human faults and that there is as much evil in the world as there is good. Although the theme of good and evil that Hawthorne believes in does not coincide with Emerson’s belief that people are purely good, the theme of trust and faith in “Young Goodman Brown” seems to relate to both of the authors’ theories. Emerson’s support of the idea that people should believe in themselves directly opposes Hawthorne’s idea, as portrayed by Goodman Brown, which questions whether people are truly fit to make decisions for themselves. Emerson espouses the ideology of “Self-Reliance” whereas Hawthorne takes on a conformist view. It would probably be safe to say that our own personalities are made up of a combination of both schools of thought rather than strictly one or the
The reason for this is possibly because his family’s history stretches back to the early days of the Salem Witch Trials where he became well acquainted with Puritan society. Being a master of symbolism, Hawthorne successfully conveys his message of acknowledgement of human faults and that there is as much evil in the world as there is good. Although the theme of good and evil that Hawthorne believes in does not coincide with Emerson’s belief that people are purely good, the theme of trust and faith in “Young Goodman Brown” seems to relate to both of the authors’ theories. Emerson’s support of the idea that people should believe in themselves directly opposes Hawthorne’s idea, as portrayed by Goodman Brown, which questions whether people are truly fit to make decisions for themselves. Emerson espouses the ideology of “Self-Reliance” whereas Hawthorne takes on a conformist view. It would probably be safe to say that our own personalities are made up of a combination of both schools of thought rather than strictly one or the