Religious Hypocrisy: Issue Review Essay

Introduction

Religious hypocrisy is an issue of all times in the humanity. The writers who lived in various centuries write on this evil differently. The two stories referred here are the magnificent works of two different writers who lived in different centuries. The story of “Young Goodman brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “A good man is hard to find” by Flannery O’Connor reveal some facts on religious hypocrisy. This paper presents the references on religious hypocrisy from these short stories. The comparison and contrast between these two stories are also briefly discussed here.

The story of ‘Young Goodman Brown’

“Young Goodman Brown” is a story of Goodman Brown who is young and a devout puritan written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. This story unravels the religious hypocrisy that made him in an abject agony. The epitome of this story is that what we think and feel as good is not goodness in its essence. There is a perversion of evil in every one. He thought that his forefathers, wife named as Faith, local minister, religious leader, Deacon Gookin and Goody Cloys who was his catechism teacher are the admirable disciples of God. “Brown says: “after this one night I’ll cling to [Faith’s] skirts and follow her to heaven.” He believes Faith is an “angel” and one of the Puritan elect who is destined for heaven.” (Hawthorne, para.2). He set off for a walk in the midnight where he met devil as his fellow traveler. The devil led him through the forest but things happened in an opposite way when he encountered the respected members of his society in the clutches of evil. He became desperate and disturbed seeing them with evil.

A Good Man is Hard to Find

“A Good Man is Hard to find” is a short story written by Flannery O’Connor in 1953.

The protagonist of this story is Grandmother whose name is not revealed and she has a son called Bailey. Bailey has wife and three children. Misfit, a criminal who escaped from prison, is another main character of this story. The Grandmother who is a zealous religious accused Misfit for having all misbehavior and disrespected him.

In this short story the writer gives a glimpse on the religious attitude of the Grandmother and there is a small discussion between the Grandmother and Misfit. Incidentally, the discussion leads to the miracle on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. “The grandmother made the terrible mistake and said, “Maybe He didn’t raise the dead.” She sparks a fire of resentment and anger The Misfit has for all the bad things he has done.” (Analysis of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, para.5).

The old lady Grandmother was depicted as hypocritical old lady. She thought that no one gives priority for Christ in their life and she believed that a good man is hard to find. The writer clearly portraits the ironical difference between the old lady Grandmother and Misfit the criminal. The grandmother who considers herself very pious and normal is dishonest and showing disrespect towards Misfit whereas Misfit embodies all the required qualities.

Comparison between these two stories

Both stories set a glance on the religious hypocrisy which is a controversial fact in all the times of human life. There are similarities and contrasts between these two short stories. They are briefly discussed below.

Similarities: The story of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne reveals the religious hypocrisy and the perversion of evil among all humans irrespective of priests, Deacon, local minister, catechism teacher and even the wife of Goodman Brown. He believed that all of them were like angels being nearer to God but what he saw was quite controversial to his imagination. They all were nearer to devil instead of being with God. Mr. Hooper who was the minister for his town gave sermons in the church and he was a respected person. People who deserve good position and who do good things in the views of others are also led by the evilness.

The religious hypocrisy of the Grandmother is illustrated in the short story “A good man is hard to find”. The old lady who is a zealous religious and ardent believer in Christ thinks herself as good, feels that good man is hard to find in this society. She disregards others and the writer does not find good qualities which are necessary as she is a follower of Christ. But the criminal Misfit embodies all the required qualities. Therefore, this story also brings the religious hypocrisy into light. Both the stories try to unravel the religious hypocrisy that prevailed in their society.

Contrast: In the story of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ the main character’s opinion on others is changed. The protagonist of the story is the same and he does not have any subjective change. But in the second story ‘A good man is hard to find’, the protagonist of the story itself is under the veil of hypocrisy. Goodman Brown’s imagination on the society was collapsed seeing the spread of the evil in everyone’s life. The author describes that all humans are in the clutches of devil. So he points out that man’s nature is devilish. In the second story the self imagination of the protagonist was crushed and there is a reveal of goodness in a criminal. Therefore, this short story gives us a thought that there is goodness even in a criminal. Here, the writer brings out one fact that religious people are not the custodians of goodness. It is easy for a criminal to rise from the death than religious hypocrites.

Conclusion

There are religious hypocrites even today and it is a problem of all cultures and religions. This paper gives a brief comparison and contrast between two stories “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “A good man is hard to find” by Flannery O’Connor. Even though the prime thread on which both the stories revolve is religious hypocrisy, there is contrast that the story of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ tells that there is a spread of evilness in every one whereas ‘A good man is hard to find’ depicts that goodness can be see even in a criminal.

Works Cited

Analysis of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”: Below are Additional Random Excerpts from the Paper. Example Essays.com. 2009. Web.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown Study Guide: Guilt vs. Innocence. Book Rags. 2006. Web.