Use of Imagery in Young Goodman Brown
Use of Imagery in Young Goodman Brown Young Goodman Brown is the story of an innocent young man who realizes the imperfections and flaws of the world and its people, including himself. This knowledge is very painful and shocking to Young Goodman Brown. The imagery used in Young Goodman Brown amplifies the theme of the loss of innocence. Images of the sunset, Faith’s ribbons and of a journey and several others appear throughout the story to amplify the theme of Young Goodman Brown. In the beginning of the story, Young Goodman Brown is leaving his wife Faith at sunset to go on a journey that cannot wait. The images of a sunset and of the approaching nighttime illustrate the fear of the unknown. Also when Faith is introduced in the story she is standing in the wind as her pink ribbons go along with the breeze. For just a moment, forget all the wonderfully complex things about analyzing literature and ask: what things does the color pink call to mind? Even for Puritans, pink is associated with innocence and girlishness. Faith isn 't trying to make a big statement here; she just wants to look pretty, treat herself to a little something, and maybe stand out from all those Puritan grays and browns. When Goodman sees his wife at the end of the story, Hawthorn lets it be known that she is wearing the innocent pink ribbons. He writes, “He spied the head of faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such joy at the sight of him that she skipt along the street” (Roberts 337). Goodman Brown must travel through the darkness before he reaches the light of knowledge. As the story continues, Hawthorne uses the image of a “dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest” to heighten the fear of the unknown. Goodman Brown has left the comfort of what he knows and is beginning to discover the imperfections of the world and of its people. A mentor or mysterious guide travels with Goodman Brown on the dark path of unknown. His
Cited: Easterly, Joan Elizabeth. "Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthorne 's 'Young Goodman Brown '." Studies in Short Fiction 28 (1991): 339-43. Hardt, John S. "Doubts in the American Garden: Three Cases of Paradisal Skepticism." Studies in Short Fiction 25 (1988): 249-59. Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Boston: Longman, 2012. Print. Shear, Walter. "Cultural Fate and Social Freedom in Three American Short Stories." Studies in Short Fiction 29 (1992): 543-49.