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Cecily's Reviews > Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown
by
by
A short story written in 1835, but set in the 1600s, in language of the time. It's New England, specifically, Salem, which is a bit of a clue.
Young Goodman goes on a late-night errand, against the wishes of his new wife, Faith. Again, clues in the names. He has some “evil purpose” and vows to himself that after this, he will “cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”.
A forest, not a garden
“He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind.”
Image: Spooky wood in Massachusetts, specifically Witches Woods of Beverly (Source)
In the forest, Goodman has several encounters: some supernatural, some clearly laden with symbolism, and others mildly comic. But the forest is the star: a dark one, with subtle menace. Discussing it with Ilse, I recalled Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market, which I reviewed HERE. Rossetti's wood is more secular and sensual, but both have a disturbing supernatural power.
“ Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream? ”
What Goodman sees and hears changes everything - or does it? That question would have been the perfect way to end it, in my opinion. However, Hawthorne then explains what happened, along with something of the theological and philosophical aspects: almost a second Fall in a second Eden arising from forbidden knowledge. Perhaps nineteenth century readers wouldn't have accepted anything vaguer?
Overall, this story was too imbued with religious fears and disputes of the time for my taste, exacerbated by my relative ignorance of US history.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
Young Goodman goes on a late-night errand, against the wishes of his new wife, Faith. Again, clues in the names. He has some “evil purpose” and vows to himself that after this, he will “cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”.
A forest, not a garden
“He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind.”
Image: Spooky wood in Massachusetts, specifically Witches Woods of Beverly (Source)
In the forest, Goodman has several encounters: some supernatural, some clearly laden with symbolism, and others mildly comic. But the forest is the star: a dark one, with subtle menace. Discussing it with Ilse, I recalled Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market, which I reviewed HERE. Rossetti's wood is more secular and sensual, but both have a disturbing supernatural power.
“ Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream? ”
What Goodman sees and hears changes everything - or does it? That question would have been the perfect way to end it, in my opinion. However, Hawthorne then explains what happened, along with something of the theological and philosophical aspects: almost a second Fall in a second Eden arising from forbidden knowledge. Perhaps nineteenth century readers wouldn't have accepted anything vaguer?
Overall, this story was too imbued with religious fears and disputes of the time for my taste, exacerbated by my relative ignorance of US history.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
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Reading Progress
April 27, 2022
–
Started Reading
April 27, 2022
– Shelved
April 27, 2022
– Shelved as:
short-stories-and-novellas
April 27, 2022
– Shelved as:
god-religion-faith
April 27, 2022
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-23 of 23 (23 new)
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fourtriplezed wrote: "I, too, read this as part of the Short Story Club, great idea by the way...."It is, and one of the things I like is that it should be achievable without stopping or delaying me reading other things.
fourtriplezed wrote: "... I considered myself way out of depth in even trying to critique this one."
Phew. I did a bit. I know nothing about the Salem Witch Trials beyond the name, and being raised as Anglican didn't fully equip me for some of his deeper points. However, I've looked at the list of other stories, a few of which I've already read and reviewed. Those, and the others I know of, are generally more accessible than this.
Amazing idea for a book club, your review makes me want to join!
Lea wrote: "Amazing idea for a book club, your review makes me want to join!"I can take no credit for the idea, but click the link to the GR group and you can join.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
No obligation to read every story every week, and you don't even need to buy a book, because Leonard is supplying links, at least for the ones that are old enough to be out of copyright. It strikes me as a good way to add variety to what I read, without taking too much time away from longer books.
Swaroop wrote: "Thank you, Cecily! 🌺"Thanks. Are you tempted to join in, reading a short story a week?
Being raised as a Catholic the group’s comments were very enlightening and helpful. I somehow was glad with Hawthorne’s not so-subtle explanation, even if I am not able to understand the story correctly or fully, it helped to make more sense of the story. Interesting point on the 19th century readers, you make me curious on the reception of the story , as quite critical on religion and the hypocrisy of its adherents.
Ilse wrote: "Being raised as a Catholic the group’s comments were very enlightening and helpful. I somehow was glad with Hawthorne’s not so-subtle explanation, even if I am not able to understand the story correctly or fully..."I know what you mean, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt I didn't fully get it. I'm excited for the rest of the weekly reads.
Carmen wrote: "Great review."Thanks, Carmen. Are you tempted to join the Short Story Club?
Cecily wrote: "Carmen wrote: "Great review."Thanks, Carmen. Are you tempted to join the Short Story Club?"
How do you get the stories?
Carmen wrote: "How do you get the stories?"If I wasn't in the group, I'd search gutenberg dot org, as that has thousands of out of copyright written works, in a variety of formats, free.
However, Leonard, who started the group, is providing a link for each story, as the discussion starts. We're reading in chronological order, so I'm not sure what he'll do for more recent ones, but that should be fine for the majority. The group is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Great review, as usual, Cecily! I don't read nearly enough short stories, so thank you for leading me to this group.
Ushashi wrote: "Great review, as usual, Cecily! I don't read nearly enough short stories, so thank you for leading me to this group."Oh, you've joined the group? Excellent. And thanks for your kinds words.
Interesting review, Cecily. The religious and/or supernatural overtones seem obvious in the characters' names and setting of this story. I can see why over-explaining can ruin a story. Love the picture of that spooky wood.
Excellent and fair-minded review, as usual, Cecily. I'm not sure if the religious overtones will make me gravitate towards the story but I'm tempted to join the group to look for more, thank you :).
Cecily wrote: "Ushashi wrote: "Great review, as usual, Cecily! I don't read nearly enough short stories, so thank you for leading me to this group."Oh, you've joined the group? Excellent. And thanks for your ki..."
Yeah, I did! Looking forward to it.
Laysee wrote: "Interesting review, Cecily. The religious and/or supernatural overtones seem obvious in the characters' names and setting of this story. I can see why over-explaining can ruin a story. Love the pic..."Thanks, Laysee. If you're intrigued, it will only take you a few minutes to read and you might enjoy it more than I did.
Vishakha wrote: "Excellent and fair-minded review, as usual, Cecily. I'm not sure if the religious overtones will make me gravitate towards the story but I'm tempted to join the group to look for more, thank you :)."If you join the group, there's no compunction to read every story, though the discussions might tempt you... I've looked at the list we'll be reading, and there's plenty of variety, albeit with a US slant. Thanks, Vishakha.
That group sounds like a lot of fun. Put in my request to join. Thanks!
Joe wrote: "That group sounds like a lot of fun. Put in my request to join. Thanks!"I look forward to seeing you there, and any reviews you post on stories we read.
Thanks so very much, Cecily! I'm now "grouped" - alas - far beyond the capacities of my dwarish septuagenaian brain, but I will follow the link and read this. I love Hawthorne!
Fergus wrote: "Thanks so very much, Cecily! I'm now "grouped" - alas - far beyond the capacities of my dwarish septuagenaian brain, but I will follow the link and read this. I love Hawthorne!"The next story is also Hawthorne, though after that we leave him behind. Your brain seems to be fine from what I see of you on GR.
Yep - thanks! - it's OK, but way over capacity for new ideas. Such has wrought the World Wide Web!
I considered myself way out of depth in even trying to critique this one.