Essay briefly describing and providing an analysis of Young Goodman Brown and The Telltale Heart.

Essay by JediLowHigh School, 12th gradeA+, October 2002

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Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story that follows the exploits of Goodman Brown over a night where he gets a glimpse for the souls of the people around him. The story starts innocently enough - Goodman Brown is leaving to go on a short trip, one that after it he says he will "cling to her skits and follow her to Heaven." Goodman Brown then proceeded to enter the dark forest, and meet with another traveler. After a few conversations, and some traveling, Goodman Brown finally decides that his original plan for the night was not something that he wished to partake in, but was persuaded to go forward upon hearing the voice of his wife, Faith, in the wind. Goodman Brown followed the path until it ended, where there was a ceremony for the devil attended by those whom he previously saw as the most upright in their faith with God.

Goodman Brown struggled with joining the group, and eventually was able to shrug off all else and rejected the evil ways that the group represented, leaving him alone in the middle of the forest. After those events however, Goodman Brown all but lost his mind in his relations with other people, and did not know if Faith was someone who was a part of them or kept herself from joining the evil masses.

Of the characters in the story, all of them are pretty much static and flat except Goodman Brown. In the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is an innocent enough man, but by the end of the story he turns into a sort of crazed man who does not trust anyone because of the entire episode in the forest. The point of view of the story is that of...