Essay Database

Young Goodman Brown “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne contains much symbolism. The symbols take many forms from the setting to the characters. The symbols can be viewed as just part of the story line, but apon further thought they represent many different things. Faith, Brown’s wife, is a symbol herself. When he says, “My love and my Faith,” he is using his wife as a symbol and is really referring to his love …

…of doubt in Brown's mind, which him to lose his faith in his fellow man and leaves him alone and depressed. His life ends alone and miserable because he was never able to look at himself and realize that what he believed were everyone else's faults were his as well, and this led to his isolation from the community. Brown was buried with "no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom."