“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne SYMBOL AND ALLEGORY “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Symbol In art, an object or image that represents another object or idea by association or similarity; usually, a material object standing for something imperceptible, especially abstract concepts. Symbols are elusive and may convey several meanings.

Types of Symbols Universal (archetypal) symbols have been formed by the collective human experience and hence have the same meaning to most people (such as the Sun and the Moon in mythologies). Conventional symbols are coined within a culture and have a meaning known to everyone familiar with that culture (ex., the heart stands for love, a maple leaf symbolizes Canada). These symbols depend on the point of reference (can mean different things within different cultures).

The use of conventional symbols Pop-culture Religion

Literary Symbols Universal and conventional symbols connect literature to the collective experience (ex., the devilish red colour in “Young Goodman Brown”). In fiction these symbols can acquire an additional meaning . In a work of literature unique symbols can be created (butterflies in The Collector). How can we identify literary symbols?

Allegory 1. The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. 2. A story, picture, or play employing such representation. 3. Example of a symbolic representation: the blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice.” “allegory.” [The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 15 Sep. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/allegory>.]

Allegory An allegory is a story with two parallel and consistent levels of meaning – one literal, one figurative. An allegory/allegorical figure “has just one meaning within an allegorical framework, the set of ideas that conveys the allegory’s message.

Allegory and Emblem Allegory can be synonymous with emblem and in this case has a definite meaning, unlike a symbol (the allegory of justice is also its emblem, that is, the symbolic sign or figure representing something by convention). Emblem is a visual allegory.

Allegory An example of an allegory: The Summoning of Everyman (Everyman), a 15th-century morality play, a moral lesson about the fate of one’s soul and the conflict between good and evil. Characters include allegorical figures: Everyman, God, Death, Good Deeds, Knowledge, Beauty, Strength, Discretion, Five Wits, Angel.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 –1864) American novelist and short-story writer. A direct descendant of the judge who presided over the Salem Witch trials. Most famous novel The Scarlet Letter (1850). His works focus on the ambivalence of human nature.

Symbol and Allegory A work of fiction can combine allegorical (having a set meaning) and symbolic (open to interpretation) elements. Which are which in “Young Goodman Brown” ?

“Young Goodman Brown” (1835) 1. Why is the story an allegory? 2. What are the two settings of the story and what is the difference between them? 3. Why are there archaic words? 4. What meaning do the names have? 5. Who is the narrator? 6. What symbolic objects can you find in the story? What are their meanings?

From: Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy (1320) Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say What was this forest savage, rough, and stern, Which in the very thought renews the fear. So bitter is it, death is little more; But of the good to treat, which there I found, Speak will I of the other things I saw there. I cannot well repeat how there I entered, So full was I of slumber at the moment In which I had abandoned the true way.