Blind Faith in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Blind Faith in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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Young Goodman Brown: Blind Faith
Is it possible for a man to be SO hypnotized by faith that he is incapable of apprehending the truth that surrounds
him? Yes. The principle of faith centers heavily around the confident belief of an idea set by a person or
community. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," the faith of an individual conflicts with the faith
of the community. The story takes place during the period where all devoted Puritans adopt Calvinism, Goodman
Brown being one of them. Calvinism presents the idea that all men are born sinful because of Original Sin. That is,
all men are essentially evil within. Moreover, it preaches once man has sin, he is "incapable of any spiritual good"
(Hanko 2). Goodman Brown himself is a Puritan, but he is unable to see the dark side of human nature that runs
parallel to the faith of his community. The faith that he has is unique to him, thus resulting in the rejection of
reality. I FEEL IT IS A LITTLE BIT SUDDEN HERE WHEN YOU TURN TO THE THESIS FROM THE DISCUSSION ABOVE.
MAYBE USE A TRANSITION? In the story, Hawthorne uses the imagery of nature to develop the theme of
appearance vs. reality. DO NOT START WITH THE WORDS "IN THE STORY" OR "I BELIEVE" OR “I SAY”. I say this
because the forest plays a role in exposing the reality that Goodman Brown rejects. He went in a deceived man
and exits with a shocking new view. Another use of nature is the serpent, which is quite an appropriate symbol for
deception.
The forest INSTEAD OF FOREST, SPECIFY THE SUBJECT LIKE PATH represents Goodman Brown's foreshadowing
perception of human nature as evil. The path through the dark woods is itself symbolic of his naive perception of
human beings as "angelic." Filled with "in...
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