Young Goodman

Literary/Philosophical References
The Bible (Genesis throughout, Exodus 7.11 in paragraph 36)
John Bunyan (The Pilgrim's Progress)
John Milton (Paradise Lost)
Historical References
Salem Witch Trials (1, 27, 32, throughout)
Protestant Persecutions under Mary Tudor (17)
King Philip's War (18)
The Pink Ribbons
The point is, even for Puritans, pink is associated with innocence and girlishness. Faith isn't trying to
make a big statement here; she just wants to look pretty, treat herself to a little something, and maybe stand
out from all those Puritan grays and browns.
For young Goodman Brown, these ribbons end up representing the difference between appearance and
reality: Faith may look childlike and innocent, but she's really fallen from grace.
The Woods
So, the woods definitely symbolize the world outside: outside the village, outside the normal
boundaries of right and wrong, outside of Brown's comfort zone. But they could be an embodiment of young
Goodman Brown's fears. Traveling through the woods is like traveling through the troubled subconscious of
Hawthorne's main character.
The Serpentine Staff
The traveler with the "serpentine staff"—would have a staff shaped like this wily (хитрое) animal
(36). The traveler decides to make a new staff, plucks a new stick, and begins "to strip it of the twigs and
little boughs, which were wet with evening dew. Like the snake in the Garden of Eden, he's as destructive as
they come.
The Evil Assembly
The assembly in "Young Goodman Brown" doesn't have a "Devils Welcome!" sign posted at the
entrance. But it's got the next best thing: a couple of big, blazing pine trees. It's a nice image—a reminder
that wild nature (pines) and sheer devilishness (fire) coexist in "Young Goodman Brown."
The evil assembly has its own altar, its own sacramental basin, and its own preacher. Those burning
pines are like church candles. What we're seeing here is a dark parody of Christian ritual. Like a church
congregation, they have certain authorities that they obey, and certain rituals that make them increasingly
united and empowered.
Faith
Yes, poor little Faith is way more of a symbol than a character. And what does she symbolize? Well,
faith.
"Faith" is a stand-in for the precepts and beliefs of his Christian faith. All the evil people he meets in
the woods are trying to lead him away from her/it, but he resists. Still, the awful things he sees means that,
when he eventually returns, he finds her/it not quite as comforting as it used to be.
Loss of Innocence
Hawthorne is pretty straightforward about what becomes of our hero in "Young Goodman Brown": "A
stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become" (73).
Young Goodman Brown thinks many evil thoughts, but he only becomes guilty at the story's climax—
when his evil thoughts give way to evil actions.
Good vs. Evil
Young Goodman Brown faces some real devils, but also has to face his own devilish side—his
temptations, his anger, his family's history of cruelty. It's an internal battle of good and evil, and one of epic
proportions. Hawthorne shows that human nature is a mixture of good and evil by creating an everyman
character—young Goodman Brown—who has both good and evil thoughts.
By turning away from his community, young Goodman Brown unknowingly embraces the evils of
insensitivity and selfishness.
Community
The characters in Hawthorne's story are tied firmly together by history, common beliefs, and an
interest in helping one another out. Even minor things, like greetings and small talk, help bind them
together. So that's the Salem community. The weird thing is, everything we just said about "common
beliefs" and "helping out" and whatnot also holds true for the villains of "Young Goodman Brown."
Sometimes, community spirit has a dark underside.
Young Goodman Brown refuses to leave Salem because, as a Puritan, he cannot function without the
community spirit that has always been a part of his life.
Setting
Hawthorne made his native Salem look like a cross between a retirement community and a slum.
"Young Goodman Brown" takes place at the end of the 17th century, around the time of the Salem
Witch Trials. Because some of Hawthorne's minor characters—like Deacon Gookin, Goody Cloyse, Martha
Carrier—were real citizens of Salem.

The Artist of the Beautiful

To make his point about art and the artist, Hawthorne uses allegory. Each of the characters in the story
represents an attitude or principle. Owen embodies the artistic quest. Robert Danforth, strong and earthy, is
brute force. Peter Hovenden, who devotes his skill to regulating the temporal world rather than changing it,
stands for materialistic skepticism; Annie is the force of love. Each of these last three challenges and
threatens Owen, and each is responsible for the destruction of the mechanism in the course of the story.
Owen’s self-doubt also threatens his success, as indicated by his destroying the artifact after he learns of
Annie’s engagement.
Owen’s device takes the form of a butterfly emerging from a black box, an allegory of the soul
escaping, transcending, the body. Owen has worked to release his spirit from its prison, and he succeeds.
Because the butterfly is only the physical manifestation of the concept, its fate, once the dream has been
made real, cannot affect Owen.
Nature, too, assumes an allegorical aspect. In the winter, symbol of the soul’s dark and unproductive
period, Owen abandons his project. When spring returns, Owen’s creative spirit is renewed, indicated by the
reappearance of butterflies in the fields. “The Artist of the Beautiful” demonstrates Hawthorne’s faith in the
artistic principle and also his clear-sighted understanding of the struggles that the artist must endure.