Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Young Goodman BrownNathaniel Hawthorne
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Think-Aloud Predictions for Young Goodman Brown

• Young Goodman Brown came forth, at sunset, into
  the street of Salem Village, but put his head
  back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a
  parting kiss with his young wife.

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allegory

• A poem, play, picture, etc, in which the
  apparent meaning of the characters and events is
  used to symbolize a deeper moral or spiritual
  meaning

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.
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• Symbol Word/object that stands for another
  word/object. Obvious examples are flags, which
  symbolize a nation the cross is a symbol for
  Christianity Uncle Sam a symbol for the United
  States. In literature, a symbol is expected to
  have significance.

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• Primordial Symbols
• Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
  theorized that all humans share certain inborn
  impulses and concepts residing in the mind at the
  unconscious level. For example, all humans react
  to sunlight in the same way, perceiving it as a
  symbol of  joy, happiness, glory, optimism,
  truth, a new beginning, or God. Likewise, humans
  associate dark forests (like the one in "Young
  Goodman Brown") with danger, obscurity,
  confusion, and the unknown or with evil, sin, and
  death. Jung termed external stimuli (such as dark
  forests) primordial symbolsprimordial meaning
  existing from the beginning of time. 

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Themes

• How the Puritans strict moral code and
  overemphasis on the sinfulness of humankind
  foster undue suspicion and distrust.
• The realization that evil can infect people who
  seem upright.
• One mans virtue is another mans sin, and vice
  versa.

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• Puritanism and the Witch Trials
• Puritanism began in England in the late
  Sixteenth Century when Protestant reformers
  attempted to purge the Church of England (or
  Anglican Church) of the elaborate ceremonies,
  rituals, and hierarchical structure it retained
  from the Roman Catholic Church. For the Puritans,
  the pure word of the Bible, presented in part
  through inspired preaching, took precedence over
  rituals while direct revelation from the Holy
  Spirit superseded reason. After Queen Elizabeth I
  died in 1603, the Puritans petitioned the new
  monarch, King James I, to adopt their reforms. In
  January 1604 at a special conference at Hampton
  Court Palace near London, the king rejected most
  of the proposed Puritan reforms but he did grant
  a Puritan request for a new translation of the
  Bible, which resulted in publication of the King
  James Version in 1611.  Many disenchanted
  puritans left the country. Many Puritans
  emigrated to America and established their brand
  of religion in Massachusetts and other colonies. 
  Puritan ministers were generally well educated,
  and Puritan congregations promoted ideals that
  helped lay the foundation for American
  democracy.  However, because of their strict
  moral code, the Puritans were ever on the lookout
  for satanic influence and, unfortunately,
  sometimes saw evil where none existed. In Salem,
  Massachusetts in 1692, more than 150 people were
  accused of witchcraft and jailed. Twenty of them
  were executed. Nineteen were hanged and one was
  pressed to death. In a pressing, the executioners
  secured the condemned person, facing upward, on a
  bed of nails. Then they loaded weights onto his
  or her body. American dramatist Arthur Miller
  wrote a play, The Crucible, about these trials.
  Belief in evil forces such as witches, warlocks,
  and diabolical spirits was widespread in America
  and Europe during and before the 17th Century.
  Although "Young Goodman Brown" is a fictional
  tale, it is based on the atmosphere prevailing in
  Salem, Mass., during the time of the witch
  trials. .
• ..

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Allusions, Historical References, and Vocabulary

• anathema  (paragraph 32) thing or person deemed
  to be damned or cursed. cinque-foil (paragraph
  32) Cinquefoil, a flowering plant of the rose
  family that has white, red, or yellow petals.
  Egyptian Magi (paragraph 36) See staff. e'en
  go thy ways (paragraph 25) Just (righteous) be
  thy ways. Goodman Husband or master of a
  household. Goody (1) Housewife, especially an
  elderly one, of a lower class (2) any
  lower-class woman (3) housewife or mistress of a
  household. King William (paragraph 13) William
  III, king of England from 1689 to 1702. King
  Philip (paragraph 18) Nickname of the Wampanoag
  Indian chief Metacom (or Metacomet). Maltreatment
  of Indians by whites provoked him into waging
  what came to be known as King Philip's War
  against New Englanders in 1675-1676. His defiance
  instilled fear in the white inhabitants of New
  England.  lecture-day (paragraph 21) Weekday on
  which a sermon was given. proselyte (paragraph
  60) person who converted from one belief or
  religion to another. staff (paragraph 36) The
  narrator says, "So saying, he threw it the
  staff down at her feet, where, perhaps, it
  assumed life, being one of the rods which its
  owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian magi."
  This passage alludes to verses 8-12 in Chapter 7
  of the Bible's Book of Exodus. According to these
  verses, God directs Moses to tell Aaron, his
  brother, to cast down his staff before the throne
  of the pharaoh of Egypt. When he does so, it
  transforms itself into a serpent. The pharaoh's
  magicians (magi) then cast down their staffs,
  which in like manner turned into serpents.
  However, Aaron's staff consumes the staffs of the
  magicians.  wolf's-bane (paragraph 32)
  Wolfsbane, a poisonous plant. wot'st (paragraph
  15) Know. zenith The point of the celestial
  sphere (what appears to be the surface of the sky
  or heavens) that is directly above an observer's
  head.

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Figures of Speech

• Alliteration Repetition of a consonant sound
• It was now deep dusk in the forest, and deepest
  in that part of it where these two were
  journeying.  
• Anaphora Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause
  in successive groups of words
• A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a
  distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he
  become, from the night of that fearful dream. 
• Metaphor Comparison a thing to an unlike thing
  without using like, as, or than
• "Then Goody Cloyse knows her old friend?"
  observed the traveller, confronting her, and
  leaning on his writhing stick.
• Onomatopoeia Using a Word to Imitate a Sound
• the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild
  beasts
• Simile Comparison a thing to an unlike thing
  without using like, as, or than
• sometimes the wind tolled like a distant
  church-bell Comparison of the sound of the wind
  to the sound of a church bell

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Discussion Questions

• 1.Discuss situations and circumstances that cause
  people in todays society to enter a dark
  forest, as Goodman Brown did. 2.Does Goodman
  Brown really attend a witches' sabbath or does he
  dream about it? 5.Why does Goodman Brown become
  "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a
  distrustful, if not a desperate man" after his
  experience in the forest?  5.Why are people
  today fascinated with stories about witchcraft,
  sorcery, and magic?  6.After Goodman Brown
  returns from the forest, he becomes a cynical
  man. Does he see evil where there is goodness?
  Identify witch hunts that are occurring today
  in your community or your country? For example,
  are people on one side of an issue attempting to
  discredit people on the other side of the issue
  by using unfair tactics that impugn the latter's
  reputation?