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
at Bowdion College in
Maine
• Spent many years in
seclusion – starving artist
• Held many jobs including
writer, publisher, working at
a custom house, and
consul in England
More Background
• Married Sophie Peabody in
1825
• Was friends with Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow,
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau,
Herman Melville, and
President Franklin Pierce
His Themes in Writing
• Moral
allegories
• The sinful
man
• Hypocrisy
• The Dark side
of Human
Nature
• Religious in
Nature
His Most Famous Works
• Novels
– The House of Seven Gables
– The Scarlet Letter
• Short Stories
– “The Minister’s Black Veil”
– “Young Goodman Brown”
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
all everyone’s sins
• The whole Bible is the word
of God and it is to be
followed to the letter.
• The belief that these ideas
are fact are known as a
person’s faith
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
• Arthur Miller’s
play The
Crucible put
it in Literature
classes
forever
And Now, Nathanial Hawthorn’s Short Story
“Young Goodman Brown”
…my favorite short story of the
year…
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
Judo/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
– Some famous allegories are:
• Dante’s Divine Comedy (more
famous though is the first part
commonly known as Dante’s
Inferno
• John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
The Allegory of Young Goodman
Brown – Basics
• The Snake
Satan –
The Devil
• Why?
– See Genesis Chapter 3
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
• Faith
• A Christian’s faith
• Witches
• Satan / Evil
One Last Thing for Tomorrow…
Another literary term feather
for your literary term cap…
• Imagery: words and
phrases that re-create vivid
sensory experiences for the
reader. Usually imagery is
visual, but often it is written
to the senses of smell,
hearing, taste, and touch
Assignment for Tomorrow…
• Read “Young Goodman
Brown”
• There will be a basic quiz
tomorrow on the
PowerPoint and the story
– PowerPoint is online for your
viewing enjoyment
• Underline in pencil
examples of imagery – for
effort points