Rigidity of Puritanism Exposed in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown Essay

Rigidity of Puritanism Exposed in raw Goodman Brown Proverbs 1028 implies the idea of the universality of sin in saying The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates this through Browns actions. When Brown lives a righteous breeding with good religion, his thoughts remain pure and happy. He has a wonderful wife, and he enjoys the presence of everyone. As he takes his walk into the forest and into evil ways, his hopes and faith disappear. He no longer loves his wife in the same way, and he despises everyone whom people consider were holy. When he loses his faith, he loses his happiness. To regain his happiness, Brown must find his righteousness again. Puritans believe there is no hope for a sinner. Hawthorne uses a variety of writing techniques to condemn the rigidity of Puritanism. For example, Hawthorne uses a across-the-board variety of diction to create a mystical and hopel ess mood. As Brown walks into the dreary forest, an uncertain feeling comes over him as he looks ahead to the gloom awaiting him. The forest is very dark and dreary and these spoken communication help create the eerie mood. These words create an insecure and unsettled feeling in the readers mind. The reader feels as if he stands right there on the outskirts of the forest along with Brown. That type of feeling scares even the bravest of men. Hawthorne similarly describes the events taking place in the forest as devilish, horrid, and evil. Evil all surrounds Brown in the forest. It puts a thought in him which drives him crazy. These words prevail a v... ...ands before him with the guilt of sin. He can never commend these people in the same way in which he wants to. His views on the righteousness of humanity change from good to bad. Hence, Brown loses his comradery with his neighbors, and he dies a lonely death with no hopeful verse on his tombstone. Works Cited Be noit, Raymond. Young Goodman Brown The Second Time Around. The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 19 (Spring 1993) 18-21. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete footling Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959. James, Henry. Hawthorne. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press, 1997. Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.