It is true that no writer ever writes just to tell a story. There is always a purpose. A deeper meaning. A deeper message. It is my personal opinion that in Hawthorne's pieces, he is trying to express to his readers the idea that "no man is without sin". The first story, "Young Goodman Brown", however, is my favorite of the three so I will further explore it.
In the short story "Young Goodman Brown", we meet a newly married gentlemen who is distraught because he has to leave his newly wed wife late in the evening to partake in an unforsaken and unwanted journey. I think that it is more than irony that his wife's name is "Faith". Her name alone is more than just a name. It is faith. Faith in believing that upon the completion of his journey he will return to his faith, both spiritual faith and physical Faith.
Once Goodman begins his journey, he meets an old man who is instantly believed to be the devil because of "his staff, which bore likeness of a great black snake"(Hawthorne 607), which is symbolic for the devil serpent that was cast out of Heaven in Genesis. It is my opinion that Hawthorne's story is a likeness to the bible story of Jesus being tempted by the devil. In both stories, we have this believer in God's rule and the devil trying to turn them away from that.
As with Jesus, the devil showed Goodman three things to turn his faith. Astonished to see goody Cloyse, "this Christian woman...that pious teacher of the catechism..." walk and talk with devil, he turned away from his journey, not wanting to travel anymore. The devil called his bluff and showed him that his beloved deacon and goodman Brown did also walk with the likes of the devil. Even still, Goodman stayed strong in his faith and it was not until he saw his Faith turned with devil that he gave in. He followed her, his Faith, in essence, completing his journey. But the pain was too much to bare. To know the truth that those in which he believed to be the holiest of holy, the pure of pure walked with those who were considered "ungodly". He no longer believed in his faith; nor did he love his Faith.
It really makes you wonder, what was Hawthorne truly trying to say? Was he taking a stand against those who consider themselves to be holy but had secrets and sins just as the average man. Or was he taking a direct stand against faith? It could be argued that Faith represents the Christian faith and being that she too walked with the devil, what does this say about what Hawthorne thought of Christianity?
It goes without saying that Hawthorne was a true believer that every man, woman and child alike is without sin no matter how holy they are perceived to be and one day we will all have to take responsibility of our own personal sins in Heaven though we lived to hide them on earth.
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I liked how you talked about Goodman Brown's loss of Faith. Both his loss of the love he has for his wife, and also his faith spiritually. Like we talked about in class, Hawthorne didn't name her "Faith" just to name her that. I also liked how you asked questions towards the end, and yes i do believe he was trying to take a stand against those who consider themselves holy, but have secrets. Interesting post - i enjoyed reading.
ReplyDeleteI thought that too. I like how you presented it as Hawthorne's theory of no man is without sin, even the holy ones. I couldn't decide which story of Hawthorne's spoke loudest on the subject but I agree they all spoke of the same general theory. Good points, I look forward to hearing more in class.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys!
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