Symbolism in "Young Goodman Brown": Dark Romantic Elements
Inherent traits all come from a core of central attributes, extending from family. With innate traits comes similar, yet complex drives in people and their desires. The innate duality of characteristics in people coincides with the ideas of Dark Romanticism, revealing deeper and darker aspects of their minds. Hawthorne develops evident Dark Romantic symbolism elements in Young Goodman Brown by honoring the innate encounters of sin and guilt that are expected of people, further signifying the more complex and conflicted evil duality of everyone.
Dark Romantic elements of sin and the innate desires of people are displayed through Goodman Brown’s exploration and self-awareness of his own evil unfamiliarity. As Goodman Brown ventures into the forest in the middle of the night, he “[vanishes] into the deepening gloom” appearing to be a dark place, full of unconventional meetings with the “devilish Indian”. His meeting with the devil portrays a dark, and sinister side to nature and its potential to overcome people’s innate hesitations. Although Goodman Brown is “conscious of the guilty purpose that had brought him” on this exploration, he is aware of his complex, innate desires that have been repressed, but now are being tempted. Dark Romantic beliefs reveal his journey to freedom and individuality, but most importantly the evil that has been lurking in him. Once he fully accepts the sin that has tainted and fully overcomes himself, he admits that his “faith is gone” that embodies the fight between good and evil, creating tension with Young Goodman Brown. When admitting that his morality is gone, it shows the true principle that others and himself try to hide, which is their evil duality. Hawthorne depicts true Dark Romantic elements through the representation of Goodman Brown’s journey of his inherent evilness, personifying how all people are more complex and prone to sin.
Goodman Brown experiences self-destruction and corruption as his understanding of his ancestor’s impure tendencies are revealed. All aspects of good are now gone, including his return upon his wife and he now realizes how Faith is impure. Goodman Brown’s first sight of his wife is understood once he comes to understand the duality of people around him and says that his wife is “polluted wretches”, meaning she is impure. Not only Faith but all people have been impure, it was just whether or not Goodman Brown realized it. It is the basis of all people and is the underlying surface. He comes to an understanding that his family and his older ancestors have not been “a race of honest men and good Christians”. Goodman Brown becomes emerged in the fact that his perception of family is false and their experimentation with their complexity is true. Lastly, he fully grasps the concept that people, especially those close too him are more complex than he has seen and says that “there is no good on earth; and sin is but a name”. His admittance ultimately means he has lost his faith in his wife and family but ultimately shows the Dark Romantics of corruption and conflict between good and evil. His doubt evolves and grows among his presence in the forest, which conceals the true reality behind both men and women. Various aspects of the nature of sin and human’s inevitability to be evil are all a correlation to Dark Romantics and further prove Goodman Brown’s realization of his families temptations.
The inheritance of sin and guilt is displayed through the vital concepts of Dark Romanticism that are prevalent and ultimately play a deeper role in exploring the complexity within people and their innate ability to be evil. Dark Romanticism is a vital theme exploring how prone people are to sin and its inevitability. The only way to truly realize a human’s true perspective is through the awareness of what gravitates them innately, for that is the only way to be acknowledged and understood due to the deep dismissal of evilness.
