Thematic Development in "Young Goodman Brown"

and "The Most Dangerous Game"

While Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" and Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" both feature the same basic theme of good vs. evil, the additional themes that the author utilize in telling their stories serves to differentiate them in a significant way, so that Hawthorne's story suggests that evil can corrupt even a successful protagonist while Connell suggests that his protagonist is transformed into a more empathetic person after his encounter with evil.

Major themes

Young Goodman Brown

Good vs. evil

The nature of reality

The past

Social interactions

The Most Dangerous Game

Hunting- predator vs. prey

Violence

Fear

Skill

Man vs. nature- isolation

While the protagonists of both stories fight against something that can be seen as evil, it impacts them in different ways.

A. Sanger Rainsford becomes more empathetic to the animals he once hunted

B. Goodman...
[ View Full Essay]