Top Images Found in Young Goodman Brown Salem Village: It was "the center of witchcraft delusion, in the witching times of 1692, and shows the population of Salem village, both the leaders in authority and the dark young citizens like Brown, drawn by diabolical forms into the fearful solitude of superstitious fear” (Abel 133). the pink ribbons of the cap: 1. "The ribbons are in fact an explicit link between two conceptions of Faith, connecting the sweet little Faith of the village with the woman who stands at the Devil's baptismal font. We can legitimately disagree about the meaning of this duality; the fact remains that in proposing that Faith's meaning is the opposite of what he had led the reader to expect, Hawthorne violates the fixed conceptual meaning associated with his character" (Levy 123). “They are part of his adornment of dress and suggest, rather than symbolize, something light and playful, consistent with his anxious simplicity at the beginning and the joyful, almost childlike enthusiasm with which he greets Brown at the end” (Levy 124) . 2. “These ribbons…are an important factor in the plot, and as an emblem of heavenly faith their color gradually intensifies into the liquid flame or blood of baptism into sin” (Fogle 24). 3. “The pink ribbons that adorn the cap that Faith wears… are a badge of female innocence” (Abel 130). 4. “Neither scarlet nor white, but of an intermediate hue, the ribbons suggest neither total depravity nor innocence, but an intermediate psychological state. Tied like a label to the head of the Faith, they represent tainted innocence, the 'spiritual imperfection of all humanity' (Ferguson). Goodman Brown: 1. According to Levy, he "is Everyman. The pact he has made with Satan is universal... Initially, he is a naive and immature young man who cannot understand the gravity of the step he has taken." taken...[who] is succeeded by a presumably adult determination to resist his own evil impulses" (117). 2. Fogle writes that he is "a naive young man who accepts both society at large and his fellow men as individuals according to his own evaluation, [which] on a terrible night is confronted with the vision of human evil..." (15 ). fellow traveler: 1. Hale writes that he is "a likeness, part, or ancestor of Brown himself" (17 ) 2. “This man is, of course, the Devil, trying to lure the still reluctant good man to a meeting of witches. In this way he progressively undermines the young man's faith in the institutions and men he has hitherto venerated" ( Fogle 17). stick: "[W]hen the fiendish companion throws his twisted stick at the feet of Goody Cloyse," the act refers to the biblical story of “Aaron [who] had cast down his rod (staff) before Pharaoh, and so had the magicians of Egypt ended with theirs, and they all became serpents” (Hale 17). an allegorical or typological picture, Brown's companion's staff is linked to the opponents of Moses and the God of Israel... It represents deformity, evil, everything that fascinates Brown" (Hale 18). Just like the rods ( staff) of the Egyptian magicians had become serpents when thrown to the ground before the pharaoh, so "Hawthorne suggests miracles, therefore power, in the strange antics of the twisted staff... the symbolism is that of a struggle, a universal struggle (not simply sexual ) for the possession of the mind" (Hale 18). my catechism: "Although the treatment of innate depravity in the catechism is relatively brief, this was only one source of information on human corruption and its implications available to young Puritans. As part of Puritan education... Brown would no doubt have witnessed many sermons that emphasizedinnate depravity, supposedly reinforced by his faithful family" (Franklin 71). "If Brown had understood in childhood that human beings, all depraved, cannot obey the Commandments, that fidelity to God's law is impossible, [as the Puritan catechism teaches] would not be so surprised to see, or think he sees, the numerous worthies preparing to act decidedly unchristian in the woods" (Franklin 80). Maple stick: Hale writes: "the point regarding to a maple [stick] is that it rots from the inside, out of sight. . . . Hawthorne discriminates. The maple stick. . . is given to Brown, the crooked staff to Goody Cloyse: she has apparently undergone confirmation in evil, where Brown is weak and rotten" (Hale 17). Faith: 1. "She is at once an allegorical idea and the means by which the idea is reversed" (Levy 116). "Not the least terrifying aspect of the story is the insinuation that Faith has made an independent pact with the Devil. There is a vague suggestion that his complicity may be earlier and deeper than that of Brown" (Levy 120). 2. "If he [Brown] believed in the certainty of depravity and only in the possibility of salvation, as the catechism teaches [puritan] , would know that even a righteous person like Faith is corrupt and not necessarily among the elect, despite appearances" (Franklin 73). a pink ribbon: 1. "Brown asks Faith three times to come to his aid, and only when [Brown] sees a pink ribbon from Faith's cap that has fluttered down from the sky and caught on a tree branch does he abandon hope. . . . [It is] tangible evidence of the abandonment of the Faith" (Levy 117). 2. "The pink ribbon seen in the forest may simply be a lustful projection of the depraved fantasy of the good man, who desires evil. . . even as he reluctantly turns away from his lost innocence" (Abel 136). the forest: "Hawthorne emphasizes the divide between convention and the unconscious by having Brown move from the city to the country as he follows his impulses. The deeper he goes into the forest, the more he becomes one with his 'evil'" (Bunge 13). laughter: According to Coldiron, "Hawthorne uses laughter to punctuate his protagonists' epiphanies and to emphasize points of thematic conflict. . . . a figure of Satan, the older traveler, starts the terrible laughter. . . . [which] mocks Brown's naive belief in the citizens' innocence, while wondering aloud how he could face his minister after a night's journey into evil. . . [T]he transformation of Faith's scream into a laugh of acceptance as she joins an equally evil gathering in progress. . . . intensifies and personalizes Brown's perception of conflict. Thus, driven by crescendos of laughter, Brown sees the pink ribbon fall and his awareness of the conflict between good and evil is total. He abandons himself to a new perspective." After Faith's apparent union with Satan, Brown "begins the horrible laughter, as the figure of Satan first did, [which] confirms not only his awareness of the opposition of the forces of good and evil, but also his union, acceptance and even leadership in the evil point of view" (19). the demonic: "Completely possessed by the Devil, he [Brown] gives in to the belief that the world is abandoned to sin" ( Levy 118 ) a hanging twig and the coldest dew: awakens Goodman Brown "to reality from his dream or vision" when he "spreads cold dew upon his cheek. . . . [It is] the vehicle to bring to Brown's face the reminder of what the correct behavior and attitude would be for a man in this situation. He should cry, but he doesn't." Since Goodman Brown "doesn't cry," Hawthorne sprinkles dew "on his cheek to represent the absence of tears. This lack of tears, an external sign of a reality" (116).