Young Goodman Brown Fiction Paper.pdf - Abstract This paper...

Abstract
This paper will discuss, in detail the elements of fiction which are utilized in Young
Goodman Brown in order to develop themes and the story itself. Young Goodman Brown is
about how the newlywed, Goodman Brown, sets off to the woods in Salem, Massachusetts for an
unnamed one night journey during the Salem Witch Trials which leads him to insanity and
paranoia. Goodman Brown goes from taking pride in his family’s piety and believing the good
reputation is family had of being “godly men” to mistrusting his entire community and living in
paranoia after seeing the hidden corruption of the Puritan society. Through the elements of
fiction, Goodman Brown’s dynamic character is clearly depicted. Elements of fiction used in
Young Goodman Brown such as symbolism, dynamic characters, diction and setting help to
develop themes such as the inevitable loss of innocence, man vs. self and the importance of
religion.

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Sruthi Saji
Professor Macdonald
FCWR 101
3/4/2020
The elements of fiction are utilized by the author in order to create a story. They are the
foundation to a piece of fiction. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes
these elements of fiction to depict an illusion of a young man, Goodman Brown, from Salem,
Massachusetts. He ends up distrusting the entire community and lives in paranoia after seeing the
hidden corruption of the Puritan society. A better understanding of Goodman Brown’s conflict is
further reinforced by the use of themes. The author uses symbolism, diction, dynamic
characters, and setting throughout the story to reinforce themes. Themes that are developed
through said elements of fiction are the inevitable loss of innocence, man vs. self and the
importance of religion.
Hawthorne sets “Young Goodman Brown” in the New England town of Salem, where the
Puritans tried to create a religious society with strict morals and pious norms, but also where the

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infamous Witch Trials took place. “The Puritans believed that some people are predestined by
God to go to heaven, and that those people are identifiable by their morality and piousness;
people cannot earn their way to heaven by performing good works, but if they are part of the