Brown has a curiosity that “kills” his naive outlook on life and changes him until his death. Young Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest is best defined as a kind of “general, indeterminate allegory, representing man’s irrational drive to leave faith, home, and security temporarily behind, for whatever reason, and take a chance with one(more) errand onto the wilder shores of experience” (Martin). Hawthorne’s use of symbolism in his allegorical tale Young Goodman Brown causes the main character’s revelations about the sin within his community, his family and himself. It is also certain that Hawthorne’s interpretation of Brown’s “mid-life crisis” has ambiguity and leaves a reader with many different feelings about what and why certain things have happened. What is certain is that he lives and dies in pain because his belief in his righteousness isolates him from his community. Critics also debate interpretations of the main character’s consciousness is Brown awake or dreaming. Most criticism and reflection of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown centers on a good versus evil theme.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |