In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, the author uses various symbols that offer additional implicit information about other characters. For example, the older man accompanying Brown in his dark adventure holds a staff that reminds the main character of a snake (Hawthorne, 2012). The staff foreshadows the fellow traveler’s true dark identity and later turns into an actual serpent. One of the most significant symbols used in the story that reoccurs throughout the narrative and becomes apparent to the reader only closer to the end is the characters’ names.
Both main characters are introduced at the beginning of the story, but symbolism covers the true meaning of their names. The name Goodman Brown and his age represent the innocent and curious nature of people who are yet to discover the dark and deceiving things in life. The main character’s wife’s name, Faith, appears fitting to the setting of the world and does not appear suspicious or symbolical to the reader at the beginning.
However, when the symbolism of her name being Faith and her character representing the main character’s religious faith becomes clear, the reader becomes familiar with why Brown was afraid to leave Faith for the journey. The story’s plot describes how Goodman Brown loses his faith in religion, and as a result, he becomes alienated from his wife, Faith. The symbolism in “Young Goodman Brown” helps the author create the deeper meaning of the story being an allusion to an individual’s relations with his religious beliefs and emphasizes the fragile state of those relations.
References
Hawthorne, N. (2012). Young Goodman Brown and other short stories. Courier Corporation.