OK, since this story, like the last, due partially to the style but
also the ideological contexts and the time period in which the story was
written, may prove somewhat troublesome, I've decided to open with a
general comment that may be of use (for a bit of background on the
author, click the "Nathaniel Hawthorne" link above the story):
To begin, a definition of “allegory” (from Dictionary.com):
A story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning. Allegories are composed of several symbols or metaphors. For example, in The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, the character named Christian struggles to escape from a bog or swamp. The story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. The “bog” is a metaphor or symbol of life's hardships and distractions. Similarly, when Christian loses a heavy pack that he has been carrying on his back, this symbolizes his freedom from the weight of sin that he has been carrying.
* * *
I will add that in a typical allegory, there is often a very clear, or one-to-one meaning between the symbol or image and its signification. Though “Young Goodman Brown” is not a strictly typical allegory in this sense, it may be helpful to think of “Young Goodman Brown” as an allegory, but also as a representation of the protagonist’s more or less conscious internal struggle with Puritanism. In allegories, images, character names and descriptions, and actions normally have a strongly symbolic value, and are not meant to be taken (just ) literally: the story can be more or less “realistic,” but reader understands that every aspect of the story is to be “read” not for its literal value, but its symbolic of “moral” value; but realize that while a typical allegory will often have obvious and fairly clear-cut symbolic equations between an image and its moral signification, and often work with a clear opposition of, for eg. good v evil, Hawthorne complicates this dialectic. Writing in the mid-1850s, Hawthorne had an uneasy relationship with his puritan background (the deeds of his ancestors, as presented in the story, are factual), and his story questions and challenges the dualistic “morality” of a puritan worldview.
You can get a pretty clear understanding of how this world view operates by closely studying YGB—what he sees, hears, says; his behavior, and how he changes in the story—Suffice it to say that YGB remains a “puritan” to the end, and is unwilling/ideologically unable to “see” the deeper implications of some of the things he sees and hears, as well as his own actions (the narrator is careful to tell us that some of these are involuntary) in the wilderness; this may touch on the larger moral concern of the story, which questions a strict and exclusive Puritanism.
Since we can interpret the images and symbols of this story as a dramatization of the more or less conscious conflicts in YGB’s mind re Puritanism, many of the narrator’s descriptions and recountings reveal a double message—both representing the puritan, dichotomous worldview and in more subtle ways challenging it. (Btw, the narrative perspective is “focused third person,” or “limited omniscient,” meaning a third person narrator, outside the story per se, but presenting things primarily, though not exclusively, as experienced by the protagonist.)
Specific images, symbols, and scenes to consider:
Characters’ names, and Young Goodman Brown’s initials as an acronym for…? (see below, color symbolism, then make the connection to the “Puritan”problem)
Character descriptions (attend to the “resemblances” the narrator notes)
Consider esp., in addition to Faith, the “figure of a man” (who is this “elder person”?)—an interesting way to introduce a character, as first glimpsed by Brown, who is to be understood as not so much a specific “individual,” in the usual sense (well, this is an “allegory”), but who plays an essential role in the story? What is this role? Notice how he leads YGB through a very carefully structured dialogue, or sequence of reasonings, designed to bring YGB to a certain point along another sort of “path” in the story (toward what sort of realizations? Is it successful?) Also note how this “figure” disappears toward the middle of the story—or does he... simply transform?
Setting and other details:
Patterns of color symbolism—pink (is not a pure color, but a blend of…?); vis a vis sharp/bold color contrasts: red and other “primary” colors v. black;
Salem village v the wilderness (and the description of the “path” through it, and how YGB responds to things along the way—his thoughts are revealing)
Light v dark, night v day, and the time of day that YGB makes his journey
As noted above, the scenes involving YGB's "dialogue" (read internal dialogue?) with the "elder person"; consider this also as the doubling (flip side or counterpart) of another kind of "dialogue"--i.e., if dialogue is understood as a series of questions and answers--mentioned more than once in the story.
Both audio and visual images: the “black cloud” Brown sees in the woods that hides the stars, contrasting with what he sees—and hears-- in the cloud;
Brown’s reactions to the “message”—perhaps only partly understood—of the cloud
The description of the meeting in the woods and how it doubles a particular environment in the day time world; consider how some aspects of what Brown hears and sees may be suggesting a kind of understanding of the world and his relationship to it that he never fully comprehends or accepts, and which accounts for the disturbing ending of the story—Brown’s bitterness and misanthropic attitude. Some things the minister says lead him toward this understanding, but other comments seem to divert him from this realization, which make sense if we read this story more as a dramatization of Brown’s internal, and not always fully conscious struggle with an oppositional, dualistic puritan world view, and the problems and conflicts that can be a consequence of such a world view. Attend carefully to the details of this meeting, both visual and audio images, esp. the complex, intriguing, and suggestive description of the “hymn.”
The concluding scenes of the story—what does YGB understand about his “communion,” and what has he missed? (think of the irony of the word “communion” in this context)
Consider carefully the details of some of these scenes, and how they may both represent and challenge or undermine the premises of the puritan worldview. Is there a way in which puritan “morality” is actually immoral?
One final comment: because it is, at least in part, an “allegory,” Young Goodman Brown” can teach us a lot about how to “read”—i.e., interpret—literature in general, since even more “realistic” stories can be read between the lines in these ways, following image, symbol, and thematic patterns that may be subtly embedded in the details of the text. The allegory self-consciously encourages this kind of reading, forgoing the reality effect of a story grounded more particularly in everyday life.
To begin, a definition of “allegory” (from Dictionary.com):
A story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning. Allegories are composed of several symbols or metaphors. For example, in The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, the character named Christian struggles to escape from a bog or swamp. The story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. The “bog” is a metaphor or symbol of life's hardships and distractions. Similarly, when Christian loses a heavy pack that he has been carrying on his back, this symbolizes his freedom from the weight of sin that he has been carrying.
* * *
I will add that in a typical allegory, there is often a very clear, or one-to-one meaning between the symbol or image and its signification. Though “Young Goodman Brown” is not a strictly typical allegory in this sense, it may be helpful to think of “Young Goodman Brown” as an allegory, but also as a representation of the protagonist’s more or less conscious internal struggle with Puritanism. In allegories, images, character names and descriptions, and actions normally have a strongly symbolic value, and are not meant to be taken (just ) literally: the story can be more or less “realistic,” but reader understands that every aspect of the story is to be “read” not for its literal value, but its symbolic of “moral” value; but realize that while a typical allegory will often have obvious and fairly clear-cut symbolic equations between an image and its moral signification, and often work with a clear opposition of, for eg. good v evil, Hawthorne complicates this dialectic. Writing in the mid-1850s, Hawthorne had an uneasy relationship with his puritan background (the deeds of his ancestors, as presented in the story, are factual), and his story questions and challenges the dualistic “morality” of a puritan worldview.
You can get a pretty clear understanding of how this world view operates by closely studying YGB—what he sees, hears, says; his behavior, and how he changes in the story—Suffice it to say that YGB remains a “puritan” to the end, and is unwilling/ideologically unable to “see” the deeper implications of some of the things he sees and hears, as well as his own actions (the narrator is careful to tell us that some of these are involuntary) in the wilderness; this may touch on the larger moral concern of the story, which questions a strict and exclusive Puritanism.
Since we can interpret the images and symbols of this story as a dramatization of the more or less conscious conflicts in YGB’s mind re Puritanism, many of the narrator’s descriptions and recountings reveal a double message—both representing the puritan, dichotomous worldview and in more subtle ways challenging it. (Btw, the narrative perspective is “focused third person,” or “limited omniscient,” meaning a third person narrator, outside the story per se, but presenting things primarily, though not exclusively, as experienced by the protagonist.)
Specific images, symbols, and scenes to consider:
Characters’ names, and Young Goodman Brown’s initials as an acronym for…? (see below, color symbolism, then make the connection to the “Puritan”problem)
Character descriptions (attend to the “resemblances” the narrator notes)
Consider esp., in addition to Faith, the “figure of a man” (who is this “elder person”?)—an interesting way to introduce a character, as first glimpsed by Brown, who is to be understood as not so much a specific “individual,” in the usual sense (well, this is an “allegory”), but who plays an essential role in the story? What is this role? Notice how he leads YGB through a very carefully structured dialogue, or sequence of reasonings, designed to bring YGB to a certain point along another sort of “path” in the story (toward what sort of realizations? Is it successful?) Also note how this “figure” disappears toward the middle of the story—or does he... simply transform?
Setting and other details:
Patterns of color symbolism—pink (is not a pure color, but a blend of…?); vis a vis sharp/bold color contrasts: red and other “primary” colors v. black;
Salem village v the wilderness (and the description of the “path” through it, and how YGB responds to things along the way—his thoughts are revealing)
Light v dark, night v day, and the time of day that YGB makes his journey
As noted above, the scenes involving YGB's "dialogue" (read internal dialogue?) with the "elder person"; consider this also as the doubling (flip side or counterpart) of another kind of "dialogue"--i.e., if dialogue is understood as a series of questions and answers--mentioned more than once in the story.
Both audio and visual images: the “black cloud” Brown sees in the woods that hides the stars, contrasting with what he sees—and hears-- in the cloud;
Brown’s reactions to the “message”—perhaps only partly understood—of the cloud
The description of the meeting in the woods and how it doubles a particular environment in the day time world; consider how some aspects of what Brown hears and sees may be suggesting a kind of understanding of the world and his relationship to it that he never fully comprehends or accepts, and which accounts for the disturbing ending of the story—Brown’s bitterness and misanthropic attitude. Some things the minister says lead him toward this understanding, but other comments seem to divert him from this realization, which make sense if we read this story more as a dramatization of Brown’s internal, and not always fully conscious struggle with an oppositional, dualistic puritan world view, and the problems and conflicts that can be a consequence of such a world view. Attend carefully to the details of this meeting, both visual and audio images, esp. the complex, intriguing, and suggestive description of the “hymn.”
The concluding scenes of the story—what does YGB understand about his “communion,” and what has he missed? (think of the irony of the word “communion” in this context)
Consider carefully the details of some of these scenes, and how they may both represent and challenge or undermine the premises of the puritan worldview. Is there a way in which puritan “morality” is actually immoral?
One final comment: because it is, at least in part, an “allegory,” Young Goodman Brown” can teach us a lot about how to “read”—i.e., interpret—literature in general, since even more “realistic” stories can be read between the lines in these ways, following image, symbol, and thematic patterns that may be subtly embedded in the details of the text. The allegory self-consciously encourages this kind of reading, forgoing the reality effect of a story grounded more particularly in everyday life.
