Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his short story,
"Young Goodman Brown", generates a relationship in direct contrast
with that of a true romance among the roles of Faith and Young Goodman
Brown. Whereas, a
true romance is
the ideal romance, exhibiting virtuous
aspects such as trust, as well as a burning passion and an undying love for one
another. The relationship which Young
Goodman creates between himself and Faith
is one that is
unresponsive , and is based on distrust and a willingness on his part to
abandon her.
Consequently, as far as passion and desire are
concerned, someone quickly call Dr. Ruth because this marriage is in
trouble. After Faith asks Goodman not to
depart that night, pleading, "pray tarry with
me this night,
dear husband, of all nights in the year", he answers her saying , "my
journey must be done." He then
questions the sincerity of her "peculiar" plea asking whether she
doubts him. Since when is it such a
farfetched
request for a wife to ask her husband for company on a given night? Does this request signify a lack of trust in
her husband? If anything, it illustrates
a lack of self confidence in himself as well as a lack of trust
in her. In addition, after departing his wife, Goodman
Brown states to the mysterious man he meets in the forest, that "Faith
kept [him] back awhile." This means
that although both his wife, Faith, and his own faith delay
him, they cannot
stop him and thus aren't more important than committing this deed.
Furthermore, there is no evidence of his
trust for her in the marriage.
Immediately after witnessing a pink ribbon fluttering down onto the
branch of a tree, Young Goodman Brown cries out, " my Faith is
gone!" By this statement, Goodman means that his
wife has physically gone over to the devil and that his faith in her is
gone. This, thereby proves the absence
of trust in his wife. When he does see
Faith in the forest, he
yells to her to
resist the devil, but is unsure of her ultmate decision. Therefore, upon his return to town, Hawthorne
writes after that night, he "shrank from the bosom of Faith." Goodman isn't even able to determine
whether or not
Faith has chosen the right path. Once
and for all, this demonstrates the privation of faith and trust in her on Young
Goodman's part, in addition to the lack of a deep, pure, and undying love for
Faith. For if
it were not so,
he would not be so quick to abandon his faith if Faith without a struggle,
Hence the relationship between Young Goodman
Brown and Faith is not that of a true romance, simply because of the
insufficience of trust, faith, and passion Young Goodman possesses for his
wife.
Afterall, a
relationship is a two way street. By
setting up Goodman's character and actions like he does, Hawthorne is trying to
convey a message of upmost importance.
Goodman goes to the forest on a quest to seek all
those who are
evil. Eventhough by going to the forest,
his only purpose is to satisfy his unsatiable curiosity, it interferes and
eventually destroys his own life, This
is symbolic of the Puritan People who, in their quest for
sinners such as
witches and those possessed by the devil, live their lives neurotic, and in
suspicion and doubt.
No comments:
Post a Comment