The Moral Picturesque: Studies in Hawthorne’s Fiction, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The aim of this study is to present ‘Young Goodman Brown’ by Hawthorne Nathanial as a satire of Puritanism as intolerance and prejudiced system of belief which is reflected in the traits of Brown who is seen as the incarnation of Puritanism that sees every non-conformists as wrong-doers. As the incarnation of the Puritan ideology, “Goodman is not only one Salem national of the late seventeenth century, but seems to typify as well”. In his attempt to establish my view of Puritanism, I have been guided by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s disapproval of Puritanism as being specifically biased and very discriminative against all non-conformists. Other signs that includes Hawthorne’s experience with Puritan ancestors have formed the basis of the study. Also, Hartshorne’s intolerance and his hesitation to pursue up the journey on various occasions on the account of what he came across in the journey and his optimism at the end of the story of the hypocrisy of the minister in so far as belief is concerned have assisted to establish my argument. It is one of the Christian sects which looks upon its followers as the only devout and views the followers of other sects as non-conformists

Satire

With this radicalism, especially against accepting the, Puritanism becomes the subject of criticism by many American writers including Nathaniel Hawthorne himself. From the above, we may infer that Brown, as a Puritan, is far from being influenced or redirected in any direction away from Puritanism. Hesitation and the feeling of guilt are pointers to a feeling that he has been taken in and the journey is not more than deception. For him, Puritanism stands for religious perfection and any move away from this religious stand however slight it may be, will not be acceptable. Therefore, any deviation from the Puritan belief will result in a different religious sect, of a nonconformist nature, to which Brown is immune.

We may say that ‘Young Goodman Brown’ is a story that revolves about Puritanism but doesn’t set out to reveal the Puritan ideology directly. Doing this, is much like building a robot to do human things. This becomes more demanding in works wholly dependent on ideology as ‘Young Goodman Brown’. It is a work that is set to achieve important human purposes and has to be convincing and natural in the way it is presented to the readers. That is to say, the story is a dramatization of the Puritan ideology.

This goes in the same line with Brown’s constant and firm attachment to Puritanism. Moreover, the second theme shows Brown’s unhappiness about the presence of what he believes to be religious people in the evil procession in the forest. The Puritan ideology is displayed through the various elements of the story: setting, characterization, conflicts and finally symbolism. The setting is the central element in ‘Young Goodman Brown’ that takes part in developing the themes of the story. The setting is the journey itself and it is through the journey that we come to know about Brown’s character, the conflicts which he began to encounter, and finally about the themes of the story. The journey as place and time has been an element replete with conflicts. The procession and the gothic elements are two major elements which interweave to produce effects that carry the actions along the same extreme lines.

Setting

The gothic elements of the setting partly contribute to the purpose of the story. The mysterious elements of the setting develop the conflicts in the mind of Brown and finally develop his character. The setting as the time and place of the actions, dusk and the forest, together help the devil try to mar Brown’s commitment to Puritanism. They try to pull Brown’s legs into a devilish trap by offering him a cover along the journey which Brown begins to see as an antagonist. The forest and darkness become haunting elements which deepen Brown’s inner conflicts and fear. Out of fear, Brown starts conceiving evil everywhere along his way through the forest. He says, “’There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,’…’What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!’”

Throughout the experience, Brown goes too deep into darkness, state of uncertainty, and religious conflicts which the gothic scenes and the presence of the Deacon, the minister, Goody Cloyse, and finally his wife, Faith, enhance. However, this effect should not be overemphasized as a change which may amount to a real breakthrough in the personality of Brown. However, as I have stated above, Brown is guided by his sense of belief in the complete authority and power of God and so his unconscious leap out of belief remains temporary.

Brown’s confidence in God continues to be the source of hope and strength in resisting evil. He relies on God’s help with these words “’With heaven above and faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!’” More-over, towards the end of the story, Brown urges his wife to ask for God’s help; “’Faith! Faith!’ cried the husband, ‘look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one.’” This undoubtedly shows Brown’s unwavering trust in God to the last moment.

Conflicts And Symbols

Conflicts, being essential to the development of the plot, play an important role in the development of characters. ‘Young Goodman Brown’ is a dramatization of the Puritan ideology and conflicts are one part of this dramatization. The two major elements which cause the conflicts are the journey and the appearance of the devil, the old woman Goody Cloyse, the Deacon, the minister and finally his wife, Faith. These events provide the main conflicts of the story both internal and external. The internal conflicts of the story are prompted by the external ones. For example, after seeing the magic serpent, Brown became conscious of the evilness of the journey and began to show hesitation about following it up.

The story, ‘Young Goodman Brown’, is highly symbolical. It contains a cluster of symbols which represent a series of opposites reflecting both: the conflicts Brown experiences, and the depth these symbols render to his personality. For instance, “dusk” and “sunrise” represent two extremes which mark consecutively the beginning and the end of the journey. On the one hand, “dusk” is the time that precedes darkness and it therefore, stands for the coming evil. Hawthorne wants that “dusk”, a time between light and complete darkness, to reflect the moments of hesitation which Brown begins to experience after meeting with the devil, the old woman, Goody Cloyse, and the Deacon. Moreover, darkness which is the reflection of evil is meant to place Brown in the real experience of facing evil. On the other hand, “sunrise”, which marks the end of the journey, is a representation of the state of certainty which Brown arrives at by the end of the story. This moment marks unprecedented clarity in Brown’s belie and attitudes towards his village people, his wife, Faith, and more importantly his faith in Puritanism.

Conclusion

Eventually, as a round-up, the story is a satire of Puritanism as a system of belief that systematically pursues an ideology that deepens, widens division, and disperses all attempts at creating any common ground among the various Christian sects on the one hand, and other beliefs on the other. Puritanism, through distrust and doubt plainly enhances the possibility of splitting societies over religious issues at the cost of unity and togetherness. It tends to excommunicate non-Puritans as non-conformists and looks upon them as sinners.

Moreover, Puritanism prevents Brown from realizing the fact about human nature which shows man as a creature who can’t help advocate and practice freedom consciously or unconsciously and shows indifference to all types of suppression whether it be religious, political, social,…etc. Brown is moreover, ignorant of the diversity of human desires and nature. He seems to be ignorant of the fact that to avoid parochialism and gain the favor of the majority, man is required to have what George

Trevelyan (1983) calls “the holistic world-view” that “can lift and lighten our hearts with hope and even joy” (p.12). This means that one has to have one’s eyes on the whole. From the above, Brown’s outlooks seem to be rooted in a belief which Hawthorne himself denounces as one-sided and hardly in harmony with the natural flow of life.

Hawthorne’s treatment of the Puritan ideology in this story aims at achieving a limited purpose namely, to criticize and finally show his disillusionment with Puritanism as an outmoded system of belief.

Therefore, while Hawthorne in ‘Young Goodman Brown’ tries to unfold before the reader the various tenets of Puritanism, he shows that Puritanism is an outdated ideology. It needs to be evolved and updated in order to cope with the new world in which acceptance of others is not only today’s social religion as I may call it, but the religion of this world. A world, in which liberal thinking is not only a system that neutralizes one’s political thoughts, ideology, and interests in favor of the majority, but also affects one’s attitude of others in relation to religious.

Work Cited

Abel D. The Moral Picturesque: Studies in Hawthorne’s Fiction. Indiana: Purdue UP, 1988.

Bunge N, Nathaniel. A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Dwayne, 1983.

Canby HS. Classic Americans: A Study of Eminent American Writers from Irving to Whitman. New York: Russell and Russell, 1939.

Guerin WL. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1985

Johnson CD. The Productive Tension of Hawthorne’s Art. University, AL: U of Alabama P, 1981

Levy LB. The Problem of Faith in ‘Young Goodman Brown.” Modern. Critical Views: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986

Trevelyan G. Operation Redemption: A Vision of Hope in an Age of Turmoil. Great Britain: Turnstone Press Limited, 1983

Mc Cabe, Michael E. American Literature Research and Analysis: Nathaniel Hawthorne “Young Goodman Brown”. Retrieved from http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/ygb.html