Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I love the names that are used in this short story. Goodman and Faith both have very posotive sounding connotations. This helps to establish their character from the beginning. Tha name Goodman i feel is very "down home" and relatable. It makes me want to know his character. I think that the setting played a very important role in the story. To be honest I was rather confused towards the end of the story but from what i gathered, I think that the darka nd ominous woods were talling us what was to come. Everyone knows of the witch trials in Salem and the city itself has a sort of evil, ominous air about it. I think it was a very strategic choice to make this the setting of the story. The four burning pines i think could have been a symbol of the cross and the fact that the evil was winning over the good. This story confused me more than the last and i found the ending fairly dismal but overall i think I liked it. I am looking forward to hearing alot of it explained however.
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The names that are used in this short story also played a big impacted on me and how I interpreted it. The name Young Goodman Brown could symbolize the mans good nature, uncorrupted youth. While his wife, Faith, could symbolize what the man clings on to, "faith". The companion that Goodman meets in the woods ultimately symbolizes the devil. he shows the dark and corrupted side of Goodman and in the world that is not shown through Goodman's personality. When the companion asked Goodman what had taken him so long, Goodman's response was "Faith kept me". When he said this he ment simply his wife kept him, but the way it was said made it seem as if his faith was holding him back. Faith, his wife, knew that he should not have gone that night and tried her best to keep him by her side.
ReplyDeleteThrough their journey through the woods, Brown comes upon several people with names and occupations that would make one believe that they are in fact "good people". Goodman learns that these people he meets along the path symbolize the evil in the world. During the devil worship, Brown realizes that he now sees the evil in the world and ultimately loses "faith" in the good of humanity.
I didn't even think about the four burning trees as a symbol of the cross, but that totally make sense. I think that Hawthorne really wanted to show the duality of mankind with the setting. The contrast between the daylight outside of the woods and the dark, scary, confusing woods could be a symbol for good and evil, and the idea that it is apparent in all human beings, no matter what their backgrounds are.
ReplyDeleteI think the use of names in this story was symbolizing something for sure. it was to make you think about the character and what they were truly like, but they also showed that everyone has sin in them which may convey the message of calvinism.
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