Flashcards for Young Goodman Brown

Deacon Gookin

Deacon Gookin is a prominent Puritan elder in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," representing the hypocrisy of institutional religion and the hidden corruption beneath Salem's devout exterior.

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Faith (Brown's Wife)

Faith is Young Goodman Brown's young wife and serves as a powerful symbol of innocence, piety, and domestic virtue throughout the story.

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Goody Cloyse

Goody Cloyse is a minor yet significant character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's allegorical tale, serving as a striking symbol of the corruption lurking beneath Puritan respectability.

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Martha Carrier

Martha Carrier is a minor yet significant figure in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown."

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The Devil (The Old Traveller)

The Devil appears as a calm, middle-aged traveler who looks strikingly like Goodman Brown.

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The Minister

The Minister plays a minor yet symbolically significant role in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown."

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Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown is the Puritan protagonist and moral center of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 allegorical tale.

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“My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given.”

This desperate cry comes from Young Goodman Brown at a pivotal moment in Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 allegorical short story.

Young Goodman Brown

“Lo, there ye stand, my children, said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race.”

This chilling line is delivered by a dark figure — commonly thought to be the Devil — at the climax of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 short story Young Goodman Brown.

The Dark Figure (the Devil)

“And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grandchildren, a goodly procession, besides neighbors not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.”

This closing sentence comes from the omniscient narrator at the end of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" (1835).

Omniscient Narrator · Final paragraph (single-chapter short story)

“We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs; and shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kept company with the devil?”

This line is spoken by Young Goodman Brown near the beginning of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story (1835) as he enters the dark forest to meet a mysterious stranger, widely interpreted as the Devil.

Young Goodman Brown

“Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?”

This rhetorical question comes at the end of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown (1835).

Narrator · Conclusion

“Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived.”

This chilling declaration comes from the Devil figure (the dark man overseeing the forest ceremony) during the climactic midnight sabbath scene in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown (1835).

The Devil (the dark man / dark figure)

“A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeard of herself sometimes.”

This line is delivered by Goody Cloyse — or someone who looks like her — whom Young Goodman Brown hears (or thinks he hears) as he makes his way through the dark forest on his mysterious nighttime errand.

Goody Cloyse · Young Goodman Brown (single-story, no chapters)

“Evil is the nature of mankind.”

This chilling declaration comes from the devil figure (the mysterious old man / dark traveler) during the intense forest ceremony in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown (1835).

The Devil (dark traveller / old man) · Climax (single-chapter short story)

“There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name.”

This chilling declaration comes from the Devil figure, a mysterious old traveler, during the dark forest ceremony in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown (1835).

The Devil (the mysterious old traveler)

“On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain.”

This line is spoken by the narrator towards the end of Nathaniel Hawthorne's allegorical short story Young Goodman Brown (1835), and it reflects the psychological impact of Brown's journey into the forest.

Narrator · Young Goodman Brown (single-story work)

Faith's Pink Ribbons

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Faith's pink ribbons represent innocence, moral purity, and the main character's idealized view of goodness.

The Black Mass / Witches' Sabbath

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," the Black Mass in the forest illustrates the frightening reality of human sin and the breakdown of moral clarity.

The Dark Forest

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, the dark forest embodies the hidden world of sin, moral decay, and the sinister urges that lie beneath the seemingly righteous facade of Puritan society.

The Pink Ribbon Falling from the Sky

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Faith's pink ribbon represents innocence, purity, and the delicate line between good and evil.

The Serpent-Shaped Staff

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," the mysterious traveler’s serpent-shaped staff symbolizes the Devil, temptation, and the corrupting influence of evil.

Imagery

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," imagery serves as the main tool for conveying moral ambiguity, blurring the boundary between the physical forest and Brown's tainted soul.

Allegory

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," the allegory unfolds through a consistent one-to-one relationship between the surface journey of the story and a deeper moral and theological exploration of human nature and Puritan faith.

Symbolism

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," symbolism permeates every layer of the narrative, turning a single night's journey into a reflection on Puritan guilt and human corruption.

Irony

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," irony serves as the story's driving force, undermining every outward display of piety and innocence.

Foreshadowing

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," the opening pages are filled with foreshadowing that subtly undermines the reader's sense of security before any horror unfolds.

Allusion

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," allusion serves as a powerful source of dread, tapping into Puritan history and scripture to connect Brown's fictional Salem with the reader's cultural memory.

Personification

In Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," personification transforms the Puritan wilderness into an active moral force rather than just a backdrop.

goodly

Considerable in size or amount; also used to mean respectable or virtuous in appearance. In this text it describes something impressively large or admirable in a old-fashioned sense.

adjective · Chapter 1

staff

A walking stick or rod carried as a travel aid or symbol of authority. In this story the staff has a serpent carved on it and carries supernatural significance.

noun · Chapter 1

meetinghouse

A building used for public worship by Puritan congregations, serving as the center of religious and community life in colonial New England towns.

noun · Chapter 1

errand

A specific task or mission a person is sent or goes to carry out. Here it refers to Brown's mysterious and morally troubling nighttime purpose in the forest.

noun · Chapter 1

devilish

Of or relating to the devil; wicked or sinful in a way associated with Satan. Used to characterize the dark, evil nature of the journey and its participants.

adjective · Chapter 1

catechism

A summary of religious doctrine in question-and-answer form, used to instruct members of a Christian congregation, especially children, in the basics of their faith.

noun · Chapter 1

communion

A Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, or more broadly, a close spiritual fellowship with God or a religious community. Here it is darkly inverted as initiation into the devil's congregation.

noun · Chapter 2

wretched

Deeply unhappy, miserable, or morally degraded. Used to describe the spiritual and emotional ruin that overtakes Brown after his night in the forest.

adjective · Chapter 2

blasphemous

Showing contempt or disrespect for God or sacred things. Describes the sacrilegious nature of the devil's ceremony and the words spoken at it.

adjective · Chapter 2

fiend

A devil or demon; a person of great wickedness. Used in this text to refer to Satan or his followers gathered in the forest.

noun · Chapter 2

converts

People who have been brought over to a new religion or belief. Here used ironically for those being initiated into the devil's service at the forest gathering.

noun · Chapter 2

sepulchre

A burial tomb or grave, often one cut from rock or built of stone. Used in this text to evoke death, decay, and the darkness lurking beneath outwardly pious lives.

noun · Chapter 2

loath

Strongly reluctant or unwilling to do something. Describes Brown's hesitation and resistance as he is drawn deeper into the evil forest gathering.

adjective · Chapter 1

pine knot

A dense, resin-filled section of a pine tree, historically used as a torch because it burns brightly. In this text it provides the eerie, flickering light at the devil's ceremony.

noun · Chapter 2

wickedness

The quality of being morally very wrong or evil. A central thematic word used repeatedly to describe the sinful nature of the forest gathering and its participants.

noun · Chapter 2