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Alexander Covarrubias

Sabrina Vargas-Ortiz

English DC

21 Mar. 2017

Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown and The Yellow Wallpaper

Nathaniel Hawthornes book: Young Goodman Brown was difficult to understand due to

its use of old English and because the puritan culture its centered around, but I was still able to

find the symbols used by the characters and in the narrative.

Faith: The way Goodman Brown talks about faith is rather weird; he refers to her as My

love and my Faith (Hawthorne 1835). I believe this is because her name has a double

meaning. Faith symbolizes the Christian faith, which in the Puritan town of Salem is

sacred. In Goodman Browns case, faith is his wife who he is trying to get back to after

getting sidetracked by the old man/Devil. When Brown discovers that everyone he knows

worships Lucifer and that faith is a new convert to their cult, he tries to rescue her and

tells her to resist the temptations. After waking up, not knowing whether his vision was

an omen or a dream, Brown began to see everyone as evil and became faithless.

Faiths Pink Ribbons: As the cultist and faith were traveling to the ceremony, her pink

ribbons fell off. When Brown finds these ribbons snagged on a tree he cries My Faith is

gone and There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name. Come, devil! For to thee is

this world given. (Hawthorne 1835). The ribbons were Browns snapping point after his

love turns to the devil he just loses faith in everything and everyone.

Forrest: The forest that Brown must travel through reminds me of that dark abyss in our

mind where everything is clouded. The forest may symbolize Brown's loss of faith in
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everyone, after envisioning all those he knew as a cultist to the devil. Brown in a way is

still trapped in that forest, he became A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if

not a desperate man did he become, from the night of that fearful dream. (Hawthorne

1835).

Twisted snake Staff and the old man: The staff and the old man holding it are symbols of

temptation and the devil. Serpents are often used as symbols of the devil in Christian

mythology, so it makes sense for the devil himself would have a serpent related object.

Later in the story, it is revealed that the old man is, in fact, the devil by the witch Goody

Cloyse when she cries The Devil! and the old man replies Then Goody Cloyse knows

her old friend? (Hawthorne 1835). Brown is tempted by the old man to take the staff and

eventually he does in order to travel to the ceremony.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Wallpaper: The wallpaper is described to us as repellent, almost revolting its design is

one of those sprawling, flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin; the worst

feature is perhaps its pattern which is compared to a debased Romanesque" (Gilman

1892). Its ugly but for some reason, the narrator begins to become attached to it and

not in a good way. The narrator wants to understand what the purpose is behind the

wallpaper; it reaches the point where she begins to see people inside the paper. Through

watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front

pattern does move-and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! (Gilman 1892). The

wallpaper represents the narrator trapped in the stressful domestic life. A woman who

speaks her mind is considered to be revolting much like the wallpaper. She is trapped in a

chaotic pattern of life and wishes to release herself from it, so she tears down the paper
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which infuriates her. In the end, she finally breaks and says to her husband Ive got out

at last, in spite of you and jane. And Ive pulled off the most paper, so you cant put me

back! (Gilman 1892).

The Journal: The journal that the narrator is writing in represents her mind, what she is

thinking about her life, the house, and the wallpaper. She hides her journal from her

husband much like she hides her personal thoughts. An example would be where the

narrator is talking about the woman in the wallpaper and she says And Ill tell you why-

privately-Ive seen her! (Gilman 1892). There is no doubt that the narrator would not

talk about the woman in the papers to her husband because John would think it absurd

(Gilman 1892), so the journal acts as her private thoughts.

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Works cited

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Moonlight in The Yellow Wallpaper." Shmoop. Shmoop University,

Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Young Goodman Brown Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory." Shmoop.

Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, and Robert Zweig. "Young Goodman Brown." 1835. Literature: An

Introduction to Reading and Writing. By Edgar V. Roberts. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson,

2015. 342-50. Print. Compact Edition.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and

Writing. By Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2015. 473-82.

Print. Compact Edition.