... the protagonist Young Goodman Brown saying goodbye to his wife on the street in Salem Village outside their home. The village of Salem represents evil since it was a colonial town in American History, which was famous for its witch trials. Hence, Hawthorne purposely named the village after ... better person after this one night. Goodman Brown continues his one night trip into the forest, which Hawthorne symbolizes as being the source and friend of evil (Hawthorne 141). He resumes his errand and, "[takes] a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest," (Hawthorne ... s...

• Word Count: 1921
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... man decides to try and literally face it head on. His immaturity and selfish pride won't allow quiet acquiescence. Brown's intentional meeting with evil says he lacked confidence in his own faith. Else, why would he want to challenge it? Upon entering the forest, Brown whispered to himself ... , refuses. This symbolizes his pride and believed moral superiority. He thinks he is better than everyone else in that he alone can conquer any evil, because he alone is without sin. Goodman Brown's unwillingness to face that there is a darkness in all is childish and lacking reason. The ... , and ...

• Word Count: 1393
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... is no choice in life but to follow intuition and that in doing so there is no guarantee of happiness, success, or reward. However, it is still necessary to follow one's heart in order to have any moral or personal integrity. The symbolism is used to reflect the physical world in a transcendental reality. Hester ... admired by everyone, and why she is a symbol of strength. The city in which the novel takes place and the forest just beyond it represent good and evil. The city tries to reflect the "City on a Hill," a utopian town flowing with the human ideal for the city of God based upon ...

• Word Count: 1820
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... in the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters in the story to help develop the themes of identity in society, the nature of evil, and secrecy versus exposure of sin. To begin, the theme of identity in society is developed through the characters of Hester, Mr. Dimmesdale, and Pearl. ... in society is Pearl, the product of her parents sin. Pearls identity in society was forced upon her from birth because people labeled her as evil because of how she came to this world. Pearl was never given the chance to define herself: "Pearl was a born outcast of the infa...

• Word Count: 1923
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography

... to the corruption and degradation of those characters' souls and identities as members of mankind. They become more corrupted as their obsession with the knowledge of the evil around them grows. Roger, as a member of the human race, is corrupted because he mutilates the ideas of love and compassion. Immediately intrigued by the minister's physical state, the doctor ... her potential to sin. Since all humans have this potential to sin, she becomes united with humanity based on this recognition. Dependent on how each character identifies evil, the increase in the knowledge of evil proves...

• Word Count: 1412
• Approx Pages: 6

... of Nathaniel Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter. The marketplace is to stand for religious doctrine and Puritanical code, and the forest wilderness is to present the evil of human nature, at times it works against its purpose and serves as an explanation for why things happen the way they do. To support thesis ... For the people of Boston, the forest proves to be an unknown and uncharted environment. The Puritan belief system associates the unknown as a place for evil to flourish. This is the rationale for the very civilized and "governed" marketplace. It is the forest and the unknown wilder...

• Word Count: 2453
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... cried she, positively. "I have no Heavenly Father!'' (88). Pearl wanted to know where she came from and Hester, afraid of her child being becoming evil, tried to convert Pearl so she can be "good" and possibly be accepted by the townspeople. Pearl disagreed with her mother, she thought of ... a penance, but of her many good deeds since " (147). The truth of Hester's scarlet letter changed; it no longer represented her weakness and evil, instead, she was now seen as a hardworking woman who is kind and humble. Larger part of the townspeople have forgiven her and acknowledged her repentanc...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... good nature, not liable, except on extraordinary and repeated excitement, and hardly then, to indulge in personal alarms, any way involving the imputation of malign evil in man" (2). While optimism is an admirable trait to have, it can sometimes lead to naivety and, in this case, it almost costs Delano ... fouled his hand in it, even as now he fouls it in the pitch" (28). As usual, however, Delano quickly dismisses this idea of evil and his prejudicial mindset takes over. "Besides, who ever heard of a white so far a renegade as to apostatize from his very species almost ... can be compa...

• Word Count: 1557
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the factors of his fall. How? Goodman Brown already starts off the journey in a bad attitude, thinking he can overcome any evil and resist the strongest temptations. "With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present ... every tree What if the Devil Himself should be at my very elbow!" When he finally does meet someone on the trail, which appears to be of evil origin, he is taken back and tremors a bit at the sudden appearance of the traveller. Right here we can see already the fact that sudden ... surprise has shaken hi...

• Word Count: 1353
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... We have been a race of honest men and good Christians-(165). Goodman prides himself by telling this to the traveler who can also be seen as a symbol of evil or the devil. To this, the other man replies that he helped Goodman's grandfather, the constable, when he beat a Quaker woman, and that he gave Goodman ... and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!"(168). Black clouds started to fill the sky as if Brown's faith and his cry against evil were not enough to stop it from entering his life. At this point in the story, the reality Goodman once knew is crumbling before him. ...

• Word Count: 1650
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... eyes of the people around her. Through the scarlet letter, Hester become a sympathetic heroine, and the Puritan society becomes not only bigoted and joyless, but essentially evil. (Bloom 13-14, 97, 100) The person that is affected most by the scarlet letter is Hester Prynne, for many very obvious reasons. It is ... be that Dimmesdale did it out of self-punishment and the inability to confess his sin, or it was simply a hallucination of Chillingworth, consumed with evil and hatred. This scene is left to be determined by the reader, but later in the novel, the minister is seen clutching his...

• Word Count: 1366
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Brown," by Nathaniel Hawthorne traces Young Goodman Brown's experiences, physical and psychological, paralleling the Hero's Journey and showing how he discovers that humans are truly evil by nature; therefore, altering his views of other humans and life itself. In the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is faced with a decision ... behind every tree" shows how insecure Young Goodman Brown is in the forest because he is exposing himself to danger, which in this case, is evil itself (pg. 88). He must stay strong and overcome his weaknesses to get past his biggest fears and continue his H...

• Word Count: 1258
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... he goes through the forest. This is typical in a heroic journey. He says there could be a devilish Indian behind every tree. The Indians represent evil in this case, which is the real danger that Brown faces. He is filled with temptation to forget about his journey and go home to Faith where ... a symbol of what he really finds. (Stillman 41) Brown seeks the truth in this story. The truth in this story is that all people are evil in nature. The truth in this case changes his state of being. Brown realizes this as his journey through the wilderness ends with him walking up on ... a witch...

• Word Count: 1815
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... "Be true" through Hester's vow to keep the secrets of both men.   Throughout the novel, Hawthorne showed that whether one is outwardly good or evil, one must be true and needs others to be true to him, as well.   Dimmesdale and Chillingworth subtly beg Hester to reveal their secrets, thus ... showing some similarities (as well as differences) between the good and evil portrayed in the story. Arthur Dimmesdale, by and large, was represented goodness and purity in the story. The entire town revered him and he was a ... however, was to make the abyss in Dimmesdale's soul larger and more...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... people have formed the idea that all witches are ugly old hags. Shakespeare not only describes witches as physically ugly but also inwardly ugly and evil. In scene I of act IV the following incantation is spoken by the Third Witch as they throw ingredients into their cauldron. Scale of dragon ... tiger's chaudron, For the ingredients of our cauldron. (Shakespeare) The very ingredients in this potion again manifest the idea that all witches are evil to the point of using babies for magical purposes. Unfortunately, the list given above is taken literally by the general public. It is not k...

• Word Count: 1486
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown is a young professing Christian from Salem, Massachusetts, who prepares for a journey through the forest on an evil errand. His wife of three months, Faith, has no idea of her husband's purpose and pleads with him to stay overnight, but his curiosity drives ... self denial and his inability to look at himself. He failed to realize that he, too, was in the forest to experience the evil communion. Instead of resolving his own faults, he chose to cast judgments on others, while considering himself to be righteous. The notion that ...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... and gave part of the reason as family pride. He came from a good line of men and his family members had never done anything evil or untoward in their lives. He was sure that he was betraying the ideals of his family by even contemplating completing this ... pious, what was he doing making a deal with the devil? It is obvious that Goodman knows whom he is dealing with because he talks about the evil deed that he must accomplish when he is first saying goodbye to Faith. Instead of seeing the weakness in the people around him as the same as what ... in the Puritan religion. Maybe not every ...

• Word Count: 1264
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... this case, peaceful, loving and happy. In contrast to this, the author could also use a gloomy and dark setting to make the mood scary and evil. Darkness is used to portray hatred and punishment, or in the puritan society sin. The novel The Scarlet Letter is mainly a gloomy, dark story because it ... represented by the darkness of the novel because she is the main sinner of all the characters. As Marlow (2001) states "Hester is not perceived as an evil person, but her sin makes her light hide away." (p. 1). While walking in the forest with Hester, Pearl briefly notices the sun does not s...

• Word Count: 1649
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the other hand, Goodman Brown should have known something was wrong when the Devil greeted him with a snakelike staff. This staff was a sign of evil because of its reference in the Adam and Eve story. A snake is what led Adam and Eve to their destruction from the Tree of Knowledge, which ... his utopia by the snake like staff. He has lost all faith in God and there is nothing to stop him from moving forward with toward evil because his utopian image of the community has disappeared. Thence, Goodman Brown comes upon a ceremony and takes notice of the faces he sees. He ... that all the m...

• Word Count: 1752
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... property to your husband, and Hester was in love with someone else, it was a long time before Roger came back and her "sin" or incident was not intentionally done through evil actions, Hester was just unhappy and society blamed her for what she did and she has to live with the guilt for the rest of her life! Another comparison between ... or negative? Is it good or bad to punish someone for their wrongdoings? the answer to these questions vary depending on the situations at hand. For example it is very necessary to shun someone who has physically harmed a woman it is against the law and...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to God, disowning his sins. Hester does not confess her sin because she is not sorry, so she still has to bear the burden of her sin. "Ceasing to do evil is the most that can be asked of a human " (Howells- Hawthorne's Hester Prynne). Hester became callous, losing her much of her passion through the events that conspired in her life ... them how it could lead them to a tragic life. Hester knows first-hand that her passion for a relationship with Dimmesdale is what leads to her ultimate downfall which makes it necessary to give the other women advice on what not to do. Hester Prynne's li...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... The aspect of the culture that Young Goodman Brown does not like is how the villagers pretend to be good, yet they are really evil inside. The character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's story is not content with the community that he lives in. After his strange encounter in the ... woods, he sees that everyone in the village is evil inside. He even finds out his family is apart of this group, and that is really upsetting. Young Goodman Brown will never be ... Fortunato's tendency to drink as well as upon his vanity. Poe's story reveals that Fortunato's fate is death not life. Montresor is so ev...

• Word Count: 2414
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... two lovers. However, Roger Chillingworth's gravest sin is not committed through anger, hatred, or envy but by malice in the deliberate choice of evil. Chillingworth becomes consumed with his actions of anger, hatred, envy, and malice towards Dimmesdale and Hester while they strive to better their lives ... his ancestors persecution of innocent people in the Salem Witch Trials. Decay and ugliness permeate the physical setting in The Scarlet Letter symbolizing the evil and sin in Puritan society that Hawthorn intends for us to see so that we regard the Puritan society itself as a character...

• Word Count: 2203
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... silence do for him, except it tempt him-yea, compel him, as it were- to open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee and the sorrow without" We can see that he wants Hester to help him confess his sin, but she refuses so he will not get in trouble. ... a Leech. When he first came into the village he came with an Indian who were regarded by the puritans as the devil. It symbolizes that Chillingworth was already evil when he came to the village. The name Leech symbolizes what he is to Dimmesdale. He sucks the life out of him through dialogue a...

• Word Count: 1619
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In this short story "Young Goodman Brown,"" Nathaniel Hawthorne creates an image of innocence compromised in the face of the evil of the world. The way the story is presented leaves a question open as to whether Young Goodman Brown's experience was real or a vision. ... Nathaniel in this story does what he often does in his fiction novels; he juxtaposes light and dark, good and evil, and innocence and experience. Doing so, he leaves issues unresolved and that hints at the moral struggle in the world without truly resolving. As well as, raising ... conflict, as Goodman has to spend a prolonged...

• Word Count: 1340
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School