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Essay / Young Goodman Brown Free Essays: Major Images Found in...
Major Images Found in Young Goodman Brown Salem Village: It was "the center of witchcraft illusion, in the days of witches of 1692, and it shows the population of the village of Salem, the leaders in authority as well as obscure young citizens like Brown, attracted by diabolical forms in the terrible solitude of superstitious fear” (Abel the Pink Ribbons 133). from her bonnet: 1. “The ribbons are in fact an explicit link between two conceptions of Faith, linking the sweet little Faith of the village to the woman who stands before the baptismal font of the Devil We can legitimately disagree on the. meaning of this duality; nevertheless, by proposing that Faith's meaning is the opposite of what he had led the reader to expect, Hawthorne violates the fixed conceptual meaning associated with her character; "(Levy 123). "They are part of her sartorial adornment and suggest, rather than symbolize, something light and playful, consistent with her early anxious simplicity and the joyful, almost childish eagerness with which she welcomes Brown. in the end” (Levy 124). . 2. “These ribbons…are an important factor in the plot, and as an emblem of heavenly faith, their color gradually deepens to become the liquid flame or blood of the baptism of sin” (Fogle 24). 3. “The pink ribbons that adorn the bonnet that Faith wears…are a badge of feminine innocence” (Abel 130). 4. "Neither scarlet nor white, but a shade somewhere in between, the ribbons suggest neither total depravity nor innocence, but a psychological state somewhere in between. Attached like a tag to the head of Faith, they represent the tainted innocence, the spiritual imperfection of all humanity” (Ferguson Goodman Brown: 1. According to Levy, he “is The deal he made with Satan). universal…At the start, he is a naive and immature young man who does not understand the gravity of the step he has taken…[which] is followed by a presumably adult determination to resist his own perverse impulses” (117). 2. Fogle writes that he is "a naive young man who accepts both society in general and his fellow men as individuals according to their own worth, [who] is, during one terrible night, confronted with the vision of human evil..." (15). Travel companion: 1. Hale writes that he is "a likeness, part or ancestor of Brown himself" (17). 2. "This man is, of course, the Devil, who seeks to lure the still reluctant good man to a meeting of witches. In doing so, he gradually undermines the young man's trust in the institutions and men he he has hitherto worshiped” ( Fogle 17). stick: "[W]hen the evil companion threw his crooked staff at the feet of Goody Cloyse", the act refers to the biblical story of "Aaron [who] had thrown his staff (staff) before Pharaoh, and so following. the magicians of Egypt have done with theirs, and all have become serpents" (Hale 17). "Therefore, in an allegorical or typological framework, the staff of Brown's companion is linked to the opponents of Moses and the God of Israel...It represents deformity, evil, all that fascinates Brown" (Hale 18). Just as the staves (staffs) of the Egyptian magicians had become serpents when thrown before Pharaoh, so " Hawthorne suggests the achievement of miracles, therefore of power, in the strange antics of the twisted stick...the symbolism is that of a struggle, a universal (not just sexual) struggle for possession of the spirit" ( Hale 18).implications available to Puritan youth. As part of the Puritan upbringing… Brown would no doubt have attended many sermons emphasizing innate depravity, which his family of followers presumably reinforced. “If Brown had understood that humans, who are all depraved, cannot obey the commandments, that fidelity to the law of God is impossible, [as the Puritan catechism teaches] he would not be so surprised to see, or to believe see, the various worthies preparing to act in a decidedly unchristian manner in the woods” (Franklin 80). maple stick: Hale writes, “the trouble with a maple [stick] is that it rots from the inside out, out of sight. . . . Hawthorne discriminates. The maple stick. . . is given to Brown, the crooked staff of Goody Cloyse: she has apparently undergone confirmation in evil, where Brown is weak and rotten” (Hale 17). Faith: 1. “It is both an allegorical idea and the means by which the idea is inverted” (Levy 116). “The least terrifying aspect of the story is not the insinuation that Faith has made her own independent alliance with the Devil. There is a slight suggestion that his complicity may be earlier and deeper than that of Brown” (Levy 120). 2. “If he [Brown] believed in the certainty of depravity and only the possibility of salvation, as the [Puritan] catechism teaches, he would know that even a person as righteous as Faith is corrupt and does not necessarily part of the elect, despite appearances" (Franklin 73). a pink ribbon: 1. "Brown calls Faith three times to come to his aid, and it is only when he [Brown] sees a pink ribbon from the cap of Faith who fell from the sky and clung to the branch of a tree that he abandoned all hope. . . . [It is] tangible proof of Faith's desertion" (Levy 117). 2. "The pink ribbon seen in the forest may simply be a lustful projection of the depraved imagination of the good man, who desires wickedness . . . even if he reluctantly moves away from his lost innocence” (Abel 136). The deeper he goes into the forest, the more he becomes one with his “evil”” (Bunge 13). Laughter: According to Coldiron, “Hawthorne uses laughter to mark his protagonists' revelations and to emphasize points of thematic conflict. . . . a figure of Satan, the elder traveler, initiates the terrible laughter. . . . [which] mocks Brown's naive belief in the innocence of the townspeople, as he wonders aloud how he could face his minister after such a night's journey into evil. . . [T]he transformation of Faith's cry into an accepting laugh as she joins an equally evil gathering in progress. . . . intensifies and personalizes Brown's perception of the conflict. Thus, propelled by crescendos of laughter, Brown sees the pink ribbon fall, and his awareness of the conflict between good and evil is complete. He surrenders to a new perspective. » After Faith's apparent union with Satan, Brown "initiates a horrible laugh, as did the figure of Satan first, [which] not only confirms his awareness of the opposition of the forces of good and evil, but also his union with, his acceptance and even his leadership in the evil point of view" (19). The demonic: "Completely possessed by the Devil, he [Brown] gives in to the conviction that the world is given over to sin" (Levy 118), a dangling twig and the coldest dew: she wakes Goodman Brown “to the reality of his dream or vision” when it “sprinkles cold dew on his cheek. is] the way to remind Brown what would be the correct behavior and attitude for a man in this situation. He should cry, but he doesn't." Because Goodman Brown "does not cry", Hawthorne sprinkles dew "on his cheek to represent the absence of tears. This" (116).