Young Goodman
Brown
Kelsey Short, Maeve Murphy, and Victoria
Schoenig
Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Born July 4, 1804 in Salem
• American novelist and short
story writer
• Married and had three children
• Not a big social life
• Works are notable for we
England Puritanism, personal
guilt, and complex moral choices
• Died May 19, 1864 in Plymouth
The Decision to Hide
• Young Goodman Brown decided to hide
from the minister and Deacon Gookin
because he wanted to listen to their
conversation but not be seen.
• This is like the Genesis story because
Adam and Eve hid from God because they
were frightened.
PLOT
• EXPOSITION
• CONFLICT
• RISING ACTION
• CLIMAX
• FALLING ACTION
• RESOLUTION
EXPOSITION
Young Goodman Brown is on a street in Salem Village.
1. "came forth at sunset into
the street at Salem
Village"
CONFLICT
Faith did not want Young Goodman Brown to go on his
journey.
"Dearest heart, prithee put off your journey until sunrise and
sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with
such dreams and such thoughts that she's afraid of herself
sometimes."
RISING ACTION
The rising action is
when Young Goodman
Brown enters the forest
and meets the devil.
"His head being turned
back, he passed a crook of
the road, and, looking
forward again, beheld a
man, in grave and decent
attire"
CLIMAX
The climax of this story is when Young Goodman Brown is
standing before the altar with Faith, about to receive the mark
of baptism from the devil.
"Bring forth the converts..." "Welcome, my children , to the communion of your race. Ye have found thus young your
nature and your destiny. My children , look behind you!"
"There, all whom ye have reverenced from youth. Ye deemed them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your
own sin, contrasting it with their lives of righteousness and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet here are they all in
my worshipping
"Lo, there ye stand, my children,"
"Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is
FALLING ACTION
The falling action is when Young Goodman
brown tells Faith to look up into the sky and resist
the devil.
"Faith! Faith! Look up into the heaven and resist the
wicked one."
RESOLUTION
The resolution is when Young
Goodman Brown is wandering in the
forest. He is determining whether
what he has experienced is a dream
or a reality.
"Had Goodman Brown fallen
asleep in the forest and only
dreamed a wild dream of a
witch-meeting?"
SYMBOLS
Salem Village
• Ominous feeling
• Witchcraft
• Keep to yourself so as
to not be noticed in a
bad way
The Pink Ribbons on
Faith’s Cap
• Hope
• Innocence
• Mix of pure (white)
and sin (red), so
innocence mixed
with sin as well
Goodman Brown
• Loves his wife dearly
• Fearful of the devil
• Stays faithful to God
The Staff
• Goodman Brown's
companion carries
this stick
• Snakes are
associated with evil
• Walking sticks help
someone stay
stable
• This shows that the
devil is helping
The Maple Stick
• The companion took a
maple branch and
stripped it of its small
branches and leaves
• It becomes withered and
old at the traveler's
touch
• He gave him the stick
and left Goodman
Brown
• The stick is like
temptation because it
leads him to the devil
The Cloud
• Young Goodman
Brown heard voices
in a cloud
• He heard the voices
of his town and Faith
• Symbolizes people
who are going to the
devil
LAUGHTER
• The voices of
the people
who have
turned away
from God.
HANGING TWIG AND COLD DEW
• The hanging twig is like the remaining people who
have not yet turned away from God.
• The cold dew are the people who have been
baptized by the devil.
• Once the twig falls from the tree the people are
against God.
FEARFUL DREAM
• The fearful dream is like what life would be like if
Young Goodman Brown turned away from God,
lonely and full of hatred.
The Village and the
Forest
Forest
Village
Worships God.
Supposed known.
Catholic services.
Trials for witches
Worship
Something
Secretive
Worships devil
Undoubted unknown
Ominous
Gloomy trees
Change
• When Young Goodman
Brown comes back to
his village, he has
changed
• Goodman Brown doesn't
trust anyone and still
thinks that they are
under the influence of
the devil
• Faith wants to hug him
but he will not let her
• He is really the one
under the influence of
the devil
GOTHIC CONVENTION
• Witching Hours: full moon, darkness and night.
• Presence of the supernatural: devil, demons,
demonic possessions, spirit.
• Unnatural acts of nature: the talking cloud
• Conventional Plot Devices: insanity and madness.
Allegory
• This story is an allegory
because many elements
in the story have double
meanings (literal and
symbolic)
Moral
• Evil is
everywhere and
it is to be avoided
• Always keep
trust in God