The Duplicity of Humanity: Symbolism and Duality in 'Young Goodman Brown'
Uploaded by BellaMaria on Apr 22, 2014
When it comes to people, places, and things what you see is not always what you get. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's “Young Goodman Brown” that is exactly the problem for our young protagonist. Everywhere Goodman looks he can't help but see the dual nature of everything; even within himself. Everything that he saw as good and pure suddenly takes on a whole new meaning in his eyes. Hawthorne's story is over powered by duality and symbolism hinting to the light and dark side of human nature and life itself. Some of the symbolism is quite obvious, other times you have to read between the lines in order to see it.
One symbol that Hawthorne uses to show the duality is the character names. Two names stand out amongst the many characters, Goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Goodman's name makes him seem likeable and easy to relate to, giving him an “everyman” quality. His name also makes him seem young alluding to an innocence he has not yet lost. Later in the story we see him become a completely different person after his nighttime romp in the wilderness. Shying away from his fellow townspeople due to the evil he believes they hide within themselves. He even somewhat shuns his formally beloved wife when he sees her in the village, “...Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting” (399). He is no longer the innocent man he was, he becomes a sulking, distrustful, and bad humored man. The name Faith is wrought with even more symbolism. Her name smacks of purity and innocence, and even a childlike quality. The word faith itself is associated with religion and leads us to think of her as a very pious or morally sound person. In the end, we see that perhaps Faith is not what she first appeared to be as she seems to willingly accept the evil ways of the other townspeople. The ease with which she takes to their evil ways subtly hints that she may have had dealings of this nature before. Leo Levy in “The Problem of Faith in 'Young Goodman Brown'” goes even further in his assumptions, “Not the least terrifying aspect of the story is the insinuation...