The “Innocent” Young Goodman Brown “Innocence is a virtue,” they said but is it always? In the case of Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” the protagonist’s innocence may not be a virtue because it gets him into a difficult situation. Young Goodman Brown lives in Salem during the 1600’s, a time period where religion was a prevalent aspect of life. He leaves his wife, Faith, in the afternoon to follow the traveller into the forest to their meeting. On his journey to the forest, he discovers the traveller was the devil and they are going to a devil-worshipping ceremony. He realizes that members of his community and church are attending this ceremony and they are part of the sacrifice. Through Hawthorne’s literary devices, the readers can see
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The town is considered safe for Young Goodman Brown, it’s where all the lies are hidden and everyone shows their faith. Everyone in the community sticks to their Puritan faith until they go into the forest. In the forest, everyone follows one another to accompany the devil. Throughout the whole story, all the individuals have followed the directions they are ordered. For example, the pastor, elders from the church, and young girls are all apart of the ceremony (7 para 4). On the journey to the forest, he notices that the traveller’s staff is a snake, which makes him realize he is walking with the devil (2 para.4). Even though he realizes he is walking with the devil, he still does not leave and go back …show more content…
The tone starts off peaceful and pleasant at the beginning until he leaves the town. In this example, Hawthorne shows a picture of a healthy, loving couple, “Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife” (1). Once Young Goodman Brown is in the forest, the tone is dark and mysterious through the whole story, for example “the blue sky was still visible, except directly overhead, where this black mass of cloud was sweeping swiftly northward”(5 para 7). The sentence structure is the same as the bible, for example “with heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil” (5 para. 6).
Despite his efforts of trying to be individualistic, Young Goodman Brown starts to lose his faith when he travels into the forest. Young Goodman Brown started the story as a man of faith and trust until he went to the forest and saw the truth of the town is released. Priest and elders of the church turn into devil worshippers at night while young women and children follow their lead. Even though he knew what the town members were doing was wrong, he continued to follow to their actions. Hawthorne uses his literary devices to explain how Young Goodman loses his faith due the conformity of his town’s
The town is considered safe for Young Goodman Brown, it’s where all the lies are hidden and everyone shows their faith. Everyone in the community sticks to their Puritan faith until they go into the forest. In the forest, everyone follows one another to accompany the devil. Throughout the whole story, all the individuals have followed the directions they are ordered. For example, the pastor, elders from the church, and young girls are all apart of the ceremony (7 para 4). On the journey to the forest, he notices that the traveller’s staff is a snake, which makes him realize he is walking with the devil (2 para.4). Even though he realizes he is walking with the devil, he still does not leave and go back …show more content…
The tone starts off peaceful and pleasant at the beginning until he leaves the town. In this example, Hawthorne shows a picture of a healthy, loving couple, “Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem village; but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife” (1). Once Young Goodman Brown is in the forest, the tone is dark and mysterious through the whole story, for example “the blue sky was still visible, except directly overhead, where this black mass of cloud was sweeping swiftly northward”(5 para 7). The sentence structure is the same as the bible, for example “with heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil” (5 para. 6).
Despite his efforts of trying to be individualistic, Young Goodman Brown starts to lose his faith when he travels into the forest. Young Goodman Brown started the story as a man of faith and trust until he went to the forest and saw the truth of the town is released. Priest and elders of the church turn into devil worshippers at night while young women and children follow their lead. Even though he knew what the town members were doing was wrong, he continued to follow to their actions. Hawthorne uses his literary devices to explain how Young Goodman loses his faith due the conformity of his town’s