Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism throughout his short story Young Goodman Brown to show the theme of good people sometimes doing bad things. Hawthorne uses a variety of light and dark images, names, and people to illustrate irony and different translations. Young Goodman Brown is a story about a man who comes to terms with the realization that people are un pure and sometimes tempted by evil. After this realization from his journey through the woods he dies a bitter death. Images of darkness, symbolic representations of names and people and the journey through the woods all attribute to Hawthorne's theme of good people sometimes doing bad things.

The use of dark imagery throughout the story gives you a sense of uncertainty and fear of the unknown that lies ahead of Goodman Brown on his journey. The opening sentence of the story illustrates an image of a sunset and the approaching of night as Goodman Brown sets off on his mission.