Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne Suggests That Term Paper

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Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne suggests that a young man's nightmare about his wife being sucked into a witch's cult sours him on his wife as well as their larger community, and causes him to live out his life as a bitter and suspicious man. However, other points in the story argue against the events being a dream. Near the end of the story, Nathaniel writes,

Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? Be it so, if you will. But, alas! It was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream."

However, by considering the rest of the story, it seems unlikely that Goodman saw the events in a dream.

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If they were real events, he was justified to be suspicious not only of his good wife but of many others in the town as well, for if Goodman Brown had no purpose in his midnight walk, he did a foolish and dangerous thing. For instance, he thinks to himself, "There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree." If this is so, being out in the forest at midnight was risky behavior. There is no mention that Brown was armed, and mentions in the story of atrocities against the Indians. The reader has to assume that coming upon an Indian in the dark, alone and unarmed, would be dangerous. There….....

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"Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne Suggests That" (2002, March 16) Retrieved July 5, 2025, from
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"Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne Suggests That" 16 March 2002. Web.5 July. 2025. <
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Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

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"Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne Suggests That", 16 March 2002, Accessed.5 July. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/young-goodman-brown-nathaniel-hawthorne-128321