Young Goodman Brown Symbolism Essay

Words: 751
Pages: 4

In "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne uses significant symbolism in his story such as the pink ribbons which Young Goodman Browns newly wed wore in her hair. Faith, which prevails the name of Young Goodman Browns wife, and the staff which the traveler walked with down the path. He used these to show how life has everyday temptations but it remains to be your choice to follow your own faith and along the way realize that no matter who you encounter in life has committed sins. Therefore, Pink is associated with innocences, girlish behavior, and is made up by two colors. These colors are red and white. Red means death, hell, or the devil. While white means faith, heaven or God. The mixed colors show the fight within Young Goodman Brown between temptation of good and evil. Therefore, when, "something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on the branch of the tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon"(151). This indicated that Young Goodman Brown is loosing faith by the cause of what he is experiencing on his journey symbolizing the trouble that he is experiencing in trying to resist evil. The ribbons also show that good and evil are mixed and present in …show more content…
Not another step will I budge on this errand"(150). The traveler suddenly, "Without more words, he threw his companion the maple stick, and was as speedily out of sight, as if he had vanished into the deepening gloom"(150).When the traveler that was with Young Goodman Browns throws his staff at him and at that instant disappears, something odd happened. While he is walking he gets weary and stops for a bit, but finally he grasps the staff and sets forth again, at such a rate, that he seemed to fly among the forest path, rather than at a walk or run. This makes it clear that Young Goodman Brown is beginning to, except the staff and that puts him in the position as another one of Satan's