Hawthorne's Birthmark and Young Goodman Brown Hawthorne Term Paper

HAWTHORNE'S BIRTHMARK AND YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

Hawthorne was born 1804 and brought up in Salem, Massachusetts to a Puritan family. When Hawthorne was four, his father died. After this incident he was mostly in the female company of his two sisters, an aunt and his retiring mother who was not close to her offspring. Hawthorne was known as a reserved personality but during four years at college he established close friendships with his male classmates, several of which he continued for life. "Young Goodman Brown" was published in 1835, when Nathaniel Hawthorne was 31 years old. "Birthmark" was published as a short story in Mosses from an Old Manse in 1846.

Writing style relating to ethics and symbolism

Hawthorne is known as an American Romanticist and his style influenced by such noteworthy authors as Herman Melville, William Faulkner and Henry James. His work enlightens the real characters in the society, the matters, which need some education and discussion. "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Birthmark," illustrates themes like alienation, guilt, symbolism, pride treated as evil, and moralizing story as the major areas of consideration in his book.

Thesis Statement

Hawthorne's narratives addresses larger issues like ethics and social morality, which can be illustrated in works like Young Goodman Brown and the Birthmark.

Synopsis

"Young Goodman Brown" - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Puritanism, religion and culture are the major ingredients of "Young Goodman Brown." The writer describes the absorbed nature of his family and ancestors in puritan society and the contrast between the Salem of his ancestors and the one in his times. The choice between isolation and society recurs in "Young Goodman Brown."

Birthmark" - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Aylmer is a scientist. He has devoted his life to science and discoveries to make a change.He eventually falls in love with a beautiful almost perfect woman, and briefly interrupts his work routine to marry her. All is well until he notices a strange birthmark on his wife's left cheek. He interprets this mark as an unlucky ugly blemish on her beauty. He tries to ignore but fails to do so. The constant appearance of her wife with that mark on her face overtakes an obsession to remove it and it grows more and more intolerable to him. The major topic in his work here is the relationship issues and its obsession. Like in this case, the birthmark's very existence threatens to ruin the once-perfect marriage.

Analysis

In the story "Young Goodman Brown" both Brown and the reader are given choices to perceive what is happening. The book reflects the 17th century Puritanism. Brown experiences the dark, evil forest correlated and would have been recognized by Puritans as a symbol of mistrust of their own corrupt hearts. The forest symbolizes the darkness and evil in a person's heart.

Brown thinks that he recognizes voices of his minister, deacon, and of his wife, but can't be certain since their figures are not visible (2133-34) Over here the writer is telling the readers by the study of the characters, using peoples' voice to feel their personality. To draw some outline as to whom he is talking to.

The Birthmark portrays similar issues but at an individual level, the conflict of science and nature deep within the psyche of human existing if only in allegory. Such exploration of the inner self surpasses the American gothic settings of Hawthorne's book and allows the science of today to seek a balance. In the….....