symbolism in young goodman brown
Symbolism revealed through setting, characters, and irony in “Young Goodman Brown” "Young Goodman Brown", written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, symbolically portrays one mans struggle between good and evil. ... The short story describes the journey Goodman Brown takes to temporarily leave his faith, home, and security behind for a rendezvous with the devil. In the story Goodman Brown goes off into the forest and undergoes a life-transforming experience. In "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorne implements a literary style using several examples of symbolism which can be interpreted from the settings, characters, and irony in the story. There are many symbolic meanings hidden behind the different settings in the story “Young Goodman Brown. ... Certainly without coincidence, the central conflict in the story pertains to Goodman Brown keeping his faith in God by not turning to sin and evil. Brown’s journey then takes him to “A dreary road darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind,” (Hawthorne 2131). ... The forest symbolizes evil as it is desolate, dreary, and ultimately Brown’s path to hell. Hawthorne tells us the path closed immediately behind Brown representing he is being engulfed by evil. ... Brown finds himself walking along a path that seems to disappear behind him.