Young Goodman Brown Vs. Paul

Young Goodman Brown vs. Paul

After studying the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case”, I began to see many similarities within the two stories. Both of the main characters in each story have characteristics that could be looked at as being alike, but after analyzing each character I started to find that although alike in some aspects, these two characters are very different from one another. At first I noticed that both Goodman Brown and Paul are starved for attention, but in different ways. Next, I see that each character has issues with their past and are both trying desperately to overcome them. Finally, I found that each character’s main goal in life was the desire to become something outstanding in their communities. Each of these points is evidence that although similar, each character has many different views on how to accomplish their goals.

First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story titled “Young Goodman Brown”. “Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society” (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne’s own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers that he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him. So, in search for the answer to his questions about life, he turns to the devil and takes his words for truth about everyone he has ever known. Because of Goodman Brown’s unstable past and his need for attention, I believe that he desires more out of life than what his current life has to offer. “Of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done ‘twixt now and sunrise” (Hawthorne). I believe that this line that Goodman say’s to his newly married wife, is saying that he needs to become something in order for her to be proud of him. He needs to go on this journey and prove to himself that he is strong and will be able to find fulfillment in himself. Goodman Brown is a character, which has many problems within himself. His quest for internal greatness was shattered by his inability to accept who he was and get over his past. This eventually led to a life controlled by the devil.

Paul is the main character in Willa Cather’s short story titled, “Paul’s Case”. Paul is a very troubled young man who believes he is destined for greatness. He was always in trouble at school and was never content with being himself. Paul had a very troubling past where his father would constantly emotionally abuse him and was always looked down upon at school. Paul feels that his is stuck where he his and cannot control his own future. One symbol used in this story was Cordelia Street. This is the street that Paul grew up on and he talks about this street as being boring and common, much like his life. Paul has a real problem with his past and how to escape it. Because of this, he is constantly looking for attention. This could be him rebelling