Young Goodman Brown Analysis PDF

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Summary

We were required to write an essay after reading Young Goodman Brown, this was my analysis....

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Young Goodman Brown Analysis The point of view of Young Goodman Brown is told from the 3rd person limited perspective. This point of view helps progress the story by leaving the reader out of Young Goodman Brown’s head. Part of the intrigue of the story, is the mystery behind what is going on, whether the story is all in a nightmare of Goodman Brown’s, or whether the events are actually happening. If the story were told in the first-person point of view, we may know exactly what is going on, if our character Goodman Brown knew the realities behind the story as well. With the story being in the third person, we can also see a broader scope of the events and characters than we might see if we were reading the story from a first-person perspective of Goodman Brown. We see more details than the character can see, like the lady and the staff as a snake, where Goodman Brown only saw the older man. We read the story from a limited third-person which is a better point of view than if the story were read from an omniscient third person perspective. The mystery of what is going on, what the characters are all actually thinking, and what is going on in the details and events that are not blatantly expressed, all add to the mystery of the story. We see from Goodman Brown’s perspective, his thoughts on his family, his fear of the woods and losing faith, and the characters he recognizes. That leaves us as a reader, like Goodman Brown, questioning who the old man really is, and if these characters are all really appearing, or if this is all just a nightmare. The conclusion wraps up leaving us in the same thought process. The narrator asks whether this story could have been a dream or whether it truly happened, and we never find out truly what had happened. If the story were told through third person omniscient, we would have known what the other characters were thinking, what exactly was going on, and could have either figured out the story, or may have been told what was happening. At the end of the story we are told that this experience changed Goodman Brown, but we are left wondering how, and

why. Did Goodman Brown wake up and believe that this nightmare was real? Was the story actually a reality? Since we are not hearing the story from Goodman Brown himself, we are never able to truly know. He may or may not know it himself. The last quality of this story being in third-person, is that we are able to see more symbolism like with Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith. We read it, and can see the symbolism of Goodman Brown “losing his faith” which can mean both his wife, Faith, in the story, and his faith in his religion. If the story were told from first-person those things may not have been picked up on as easily, because we would be hearing the voice of Goodman brown telling us about how he was losing his Faith, but he would be meaning it solely in his own way, as losing his wife. This story flows the best from a third-person limited point of view....