Category: Academic Essay
Status: Unpublished
The Use of Nature Imagery as Expressive of the Conflict Between the Individual and
Society
In the context of The Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown is an intriguing short story written by Hawthorne, creating a simple
story to highlight key significant issues with regard to a struggle in one’s consciousness towards
good and evil. While many critics including Henry James have argued that one should not
attempt to look and draw too much out of the story, the masterpiece does not fail to uncover
different levels of deep meaning hidden amongst symbols, characters, metaphors, etc. The use of
imagery in this story is crucial, because it adds to the tone and mood of the story, creating
dramatic effect and symbolizing key features and themes. The use of the forest by Hawthorne is
quite noteworthy, since it highlights the protagonist’s stream of consciousness, through guilt,
hypocrisy and sin; it serves as a reflection of one’s id and uncovering the hypocrisy of those
around you. Here Goodman Brown has built his entire beliefs on what has been taught to him,
yet it heavily depends on the piety of others rather than his own, which crumbles when it is
challenged in the story, condemning him to a life of bitterness and sin.
Hawthorne has depicted the forest in Salem as a terrifying force surrounded by supernatural
myths from the village, creating it into a gothic dark place where terrible things happen. The
author’s choice of place for the story has great significance in presenting the protagonist’s
consciousness and stream of thoughts, as he progresses through the forest, while society which
he considered to be too pious to venture into the forest, rushes by him excitedly to the other end.
The forest has come to symbolize Goodman Brown’s stream of consciousness, which is
burdened with guilt as he moved to commit a heinous crime of joining forces with the Devil’s
clan. The journey is marked by his initial uncertainty, which is clarified with more certainty as
his foundational beliefs are jolted when he realizes society’s hypocrisy around him. On his way
to the other end of the forest where his faith will disintegrate when he reaches the Devil’s
Sabbath, he encounters the priest, Goody Cloyse and other pious members of society that he had
always esteemed in high regard because of their strong faith, who are excitedly on their way to
the congregation through the forest. It seems that Brown is the only member of society facing
Status: Unpublished
The Use of Nature Imagery as Expressive of the Conflict Between the Individual and
Society
In the context of The Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown is an intriguing short story written by Hawthorne, creating a simple
story to highlight key significant issues with regard to a struggle in one’s consciousness towards
good and evil. While many critics including Henry James have argued that one should not
attempt to look and draw too much out of the story, the masterpiece does not fail to uncover
different levels of deep meaning hidden amongst symbols, characters, metaphors, etc. The use of
imagery in this story is crucial, because it adds to the tone and mood of the story, creating
dramatic effect and symbolizing key features and themes. The use of the forest by Hawthorne is
quite noteworthy, since it highlights the protagonist’s stream of consciousness, through guilt,
hypocrisy and sin; it serves as a reflection of one’s id and uncovering the hypocrisy of those
around you. Here Goodman Brown has built his entire beliefs on what has been taught to him,
yet it heavily depends on the piety of others rather than his own, which crumbles when it is
challenged in the story, condemning him to a life of bitterness and sin.
Hawthorne has depicted the forest in Salem as a terrifying force surrounded by supernatural
myths from the village, creating it into a gothic dark place where terrible things happen. The
author’s choice of place for the story has great significance in presenting the protagonist’s
consciousness and stream of thoughts, as he progresses through the forest, while society which
he considered to be too pious to venture into the forest, rushes by him excitedly to the other end.
The forest has come to symbolize Goodman Brown’s stream of consciousness, which is
burdened with guilt as he moved to commit a heinous crime of joining forces with the Devil’s
clan. The journey is marked by his initial uncertainty, which is clarified with more certainty as
his foundational beliefs are jolted when he realizes society’s hypocrisy around him. On his way
to the other end of the forest where his faith will disintegrate when he reaches the Devil’s
Sabbath, he encounters the priest, Goody Cloyse and other pious members of society that he had
always esteemed in high regard because of their strong faith, who are excitedly on their way to
the congregation through the forest. It seems that Brown is the only member of society facing
