Nathaniel Hawthorne
Young Goodman Brown
Nathaniel Hawthorne 1804-1864
• Born in Salem,
Massachusetts
• Puritan Background
• Ancestor of John
Hathorne – one of the
three judges in the Salem
Witch Trials
Hawthorne’s Background
• Began writing after college
• Spent many years in seclusion –
“starving artist”
• Held many jobs including writer and
publisher
His Themes in Writing
•
•
•
•
Moral allegories
The sinful man
Hypocrisy
The dark side of
human nature
• The religious
Who were the Puritans?
• Wanted a “pure” church
– No candles
– No Images
– No stained glass windows
• Rejected the “showy” church of England
• Led very somber lives governed solely by a strict
interpretation of the Bible
• No “nonsense” – dancing, gambling, drama, etc
Basic Beliefs of the Puritan
Church
• Jesus Christ is the Son of God – died on the
cross for everyone’s sins
• The whole Bible is the word of God and it is to
be followed to the letter.
• The belief in these ideas are fact is known as a
person’s faith
– Faith: strong belief in God or in the doctrines
of a religion, based on spiritual understanding
rather than proof.
•
Basic Beliefs of the Puritan
Church
Faith is what is necessary to get into
heaven.
• If you don’t go to heaven you go to hell.
• Sins, as defined by the Bible, are to be
avoided at cut out of life
• A catechism is a book that is used to teach
basic principles of the church
The Infamous Puritans
• The Salem Witch
Trials put the
Puritans
prominently in
the history books
And Now, Nathanial Hawthorn’s
Short Story
“Young Goodman Brown”
Some Basics…
• Characters
– Young Goodman
Brown
– His wife: Faith
– Mysterious man in the
forest with a strange
looking staff
Some Basics…
• Minor Character’s Notes…
– Constable: person in law enforcement
– Deacon: position in church held by
congregation member
– Goody: abbr. of “goodwife”, female version of
goodman
– Reverend: pastor
– Sabbath: day of rest in the Christian church –
in this case, Sunday
YGB as an Allegory
• What is an allegory?
– A story where everything is a symbol
– Used commonly to instruct especially in
religious matters
• SYMBOL: An object, person, or event that
functions as itself, but also stands for something
more than itself.
• For example a dove stands for Peace.
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – Basics
• The Snake Satan –
• The Devil
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• The Forest
• Evil / Sin
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – Basics
• Stars / Sky /
Heavenly Bodies
• Heaven / Connection
with God
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• White
Purity
• Red
Sin
• Pink
????
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown - Basics
• Fire
• Hell
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – now, not basic
• Young Goodman Brown
• The common Christian man – brown is neutral
(can apply to or be anyone)
• Faith
• A Christian’s faith
• Witches
• Satan / Evil
Another literary term feather for
your literary term cap…
• Imagery: words and phrases that recreate vivid sensory experiences for the
reader. Usually imagery is visual, but
often it is written to the senses of smell,
hearing, taste, and touch
Complete C-Notes Questions &
Summary (due in-class)
• 4: level one questions
• 3: level two questions
• 3: level three questions
– Make sure you space the questions
throughout both pages of notes
• Write a 5 sentence summary on the
bottom of the notes in the box provided