26 pages • 52 minutes read
Nathaniel HawthorneYoung Goodman Brown
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1835A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Allegory
An allegory is a story that is symbolic of a larger hidden moral or political meaning. Usually a fictional narrative, the story does not outright point to the message. Instead, readers must critically analyze references, symbols, context, and characters to uncover the underlying message.
“Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory about the violent history of Puritanism in 17th-century America. Hawthorne, who was inspired by John Bunyon’s allegorical The Pilgrim’s Progress, comments on the violent interactions between Puritans and Quakers, events during King Philip’s War, and most notably, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. While these events inform the narrative’s plot, they are mentioned only briefly; readers must dig deeper into Hawthorne’s passing references to unearth his purpose in writing. The traveler mentions helping Brown’s grandfather whipping a Quaker in Salem, and characters like Cloyse and Gookin are linked to the trials, as is Martha Carrier. These are individuals who were seen as innocent and good, but their infatuation with rooting out evil caused them to commit evil acts themselves.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a warning or clue of events to come in a story. These clues can be indirect or direct. “Young Goodman Brown” begins with a mysterious adventure, and Hawthorne offers clues to suggest that Brown’s journey will not be a pleasant one. While readers may hope that the story’s resolution will be hopeful, the foreshadowing suggests that the events will not end well. The first clue to the evil omen is when Brown leaves Faith and she is seen “peeping after him, with a melancholy air” (1).
Characteristic of American Romanticism, dreams play a central role in the narration and serve as significant moments of foreshadowing. Early in the story, the narrator says, “a lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she’s afeard of herself, sometimes” (1). Brown alludes to the dream sequence by saying that “[Faith] talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night” (1). The foreshadowing suggests that the events to follow may be a dream, but it also suggests that Faith (both Brown’s wife and his beliefs) is aware of the true evil she harbors.
Throughout the story Brown thinks he sees his family and neighbors in the forest, but he is never certain that that they are there. The narrator says, “this, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light” (2). There are multiple indications that the light deceives what Brown sees, especially when Brown arrives at the ceremony.
Finally, the dark and foreboding images that pervade the story are continually foreshadowed with the use of the word “gloom.” The word is used as a descriptor on six different occasions. At the arrival of the deacon and the minister, the narrator says, “among them, quivering to-and-fro, between gloom and splendor” (7), suggesting the onset of something ominous, though Brown is unsure because it vacillates between “gloom and splendor.” The trees and the hollow are also referred to as “gloomy,” and the narrator repeatedly reasserts that there is a “deepening gloom,” which references Brown’s journey deeper into the wilderness and away from his Faith.
Omniscient Narration
An omniscient narrator plays the role of the all-knowing storyteller. This individual can know what is happening in the story at every moment, whether a participant or not. Additionally, this type of narrator knows what each character in the story is thinking.
“Young Goodman Brown” is narrated by an unbiased individual who plays no significant role in the story. Readers are not introduced to the narrator, nor do readers know where the narrator is from or what they are doing at the time of Brown’s journey. However, thanks to the narrator’s omniscience, readers are privy to the thoughts and feelings of Brown, Faith, the elder traveler, and the townspeople at any moment in the story. Without this type of narration, the inner fears of these characters would not be known. As the story harbors political and religious commentary, Hawthorne uses a reliable narrator to allow readers to see multiple sides of societal manipulation.
Related Titles
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
