The trail that Goodman Brown follows not only sets the scene for dark and evil events, but also symbolizes the sinful nature of his journey. (“He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest.”) Hawthorne illustrates how the moment Goodman Brown sees some light left in the world, it is taken from him and replaced with darkness. (“…a cloud, though no wind was stirring, hurried across the zenith and hid the brightening stars…”)

At the beginning, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses light imagery to convey a mood of unstable contentment. Spiffed up: The use of weak, pale light imagery contrasted with more powerful dark imagery at the beginning of Brown’s journey conveys a mood of unstable contentment, hinting at a disruption to come.

Goodman Brown’s discovery of evil begins with the darkness of the forest he finds himself in. Spiffed up: The dark imagery present in the beginning of the story foreshadows and symbolizes Brown’s eventual awakening to darkness and evil. Young Goodman Brown becomes separated from the light as darkness creeps between him and the goodness he is longing for. Spiffed up: The imagery of the lightness of heaven and the creeping darkness of clouds symbolize the separation of Brown from innocence and trust, and his growing awareness of evil.

As he begins his trip his innocence slowly fades, his frailty is exposed. The path Brown takes is an omen of its own, the darkness swallows him and he reaches a point of no return. His humble life is replaced by one of confusion, where good and evil are distinguishable but skewed by temptation. (“He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind him.” Focused version: The spiritual journey that Brown begins towards a growing awareness of evil and hypocrisy is mirrored in the dark imagery of the physical journey.

What Brown notices is how light is being covered in this dark place. (“…a cloud hurried across the zenith and hid the brightening stars…”) Focused version: As Brown reaches toward goodness and fails, the imagery of darkness blocking light mirrors the way in which goodness is blocked by evil.

At times in life we celebrate times of brightness, where everything is going our way. Then along comes a tough situation that dissipates our time of peace. The path to darkness can engulf you without any notice and you’ll be stuck in a realm of darkness. Everyone is tempted by the Devil and Darkness is in the best of people. The entire story has a dark theme throughout it.

These men are heading into a dark (which is synonymous with evil) forest (synonymous with the devil). Young Goodman Brown left his good wife Faith to begin his journey and discover evil in the world. When Goodman Brown crosses paths with the gravely garbed elderly man seated in the shadows of the woods, he catches his first glimpse of evil. (Nice alliteration, though.) In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story about a young man’s discovery of evil in the world.

The use of light and dark imagery is clearly evident within this short story. As this story develops we notice the use of light and dark progresses. A fellow with dark attire and a criminal record seems to be a form of dark imagery.

This quote symbolizes the coming of evil in the story as the dark cloud blots out the brightening stars. This piece of evidence demonstrates that his “journey,” or the path that he is on, is leading him towards evil, and away from his faith. In the beginning of Young Goodman Brown, light imagery is portrayed in the line said by Young Goodman Brown “Well, she’s a blessed angel on earth…”

 No first person/personal pronouns! (“I,” “we” etc.) Back up plan? “The reader”  No need to mention the author or story title in your topic sentence—it’s been done in the thesis!  Avoid unnecessary rhetorical questions (“What could be more dark than “a dreary road” and “gloomiest trees”?)  For the relatively large number of you who turned in, essentially, nothing—make better use of class time.