Brenda Saldanha Melo SILVA
Mestranda em Liberal Studies
University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)
Graduada em Letras-Inglês
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
ABSTRACT: It all started
with a fruit, a forbidden one, the fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil” (Genesis 2:16), a power God did not want man to obtain. Then came the
serpent, a conveyer of all that was unknown to man, which with its cunning and
smooth talk, and full of reasonable arguments, convinced Eve to commit that
which came to be the original sin. And doomed was the rest of Eve’s and Adam’s
existence, for now they were no longer innocent. For now they had such
knowledge. They knew good and they knew evil, and their world now could no
longer be Eden
KEYWORDS: Nathaniel
Hawthorne. “Young Goodman Brown”. Goodman Brown.
RESUMO: Tudo começou com uma fruta, um fruto proibido, fruto da “árvore
do conhecimento do bem e do mal” (Gênesis 2:16), um poder que Deus não queria
que o homem possuíse. Então veio a serpente, detentora de tudo o que era
desconhecido para o homem, que com o seu discurso astuto e suave, e cheio de
argumentos consideráveis, convenceu Eva a cometer o que veio a ser o pecado
original. E o resto da existência de Adão e Eva foi condenado, pois agora eles
já não eram inocentes e adquiriram tal conhecimento. Adão e Eva agora eram
capazes de distinguir o bem e o mal, e seu mundo, a partir daquele momento, já
não podia ser o Eden, pois eles já não eram detentores da perfeição. Este artigo
tem por objetivo analisar o conto “Young Goodman Brown”, de Nathaniel Hawthorne,
que retrata uma história que nem fala sobre o Jardim do Éden, nem sobre Adão e
Eva, mas pode-se dizer que representa uma versão muito mais moderna deste
capítulo do Gênesis. Repleta de elemento e palavras simbólicas, a história
mostra o caminho de um homem, Goodman Brown, da inocência ao conhecimento, ao
deixar de ver o bem em tudo para ver todo o mal, da mesma forma que aconteceu
com Adão e Eva; acarrentando a sua própria queda.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Nathaniel
Hawthorne. “Young Goodman Brown”. Goodman Brown.
“Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss ofEden
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
(…)”
(John Milton,Paradise Lost, Book One)
“Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
(…)”
(John Milton,
It all started with a fruit, a forbidden one, the
fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16), a power
God did not want man to obtain. Then came the serpent, a conveyer of all that
was unknown to man, which with its cunning and smooth talk, and full of
reasonable arguments, convinced Eve to commit that which came to be the
original sin. And doomed was the rest of Eve’s and Adam’s existence, for now
they were no longer innocent. For now they had such knowledge. They knew good
and they knew evil, and their world now could no longer be Eden
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”, brings
a story which neither talks about the Garden of Eden, nor about Adam and Eve,
but it can still be said to portray a much more modern version of this chapter
of Genesis. Filled with very symbolic elements and words, it shows the path of
one man, Goodman Brown, from innocence to knowledge, from seeing good in all to
seeing all evil, thus, just as it happened to Adam and Eve, bringing his own
fall.
Goodman Brown was a man of virtue, tradition, and
scruples. His own name is symbolic of his personality – a good man. He believed
the society he lived in - an extremely religious society, and centered on
religious virtues. He not only respected those around them, but had great
regard for their positions and reputations. He also believed in the goodness of
his own father and grandfather, all serving as the pillars for his beliefs. “My
father never went into the woods on such errands, nor his father before him. We
have been a race of honest man and good Christians, since the days of the
martyrs.” (Hawthorne
In Genesis Eva, the one who had contact with the
serpent, and who first ate the forbidden fruit, did so lead by her own
innocence and lack of judgment. Had her had the knowledge to perceive any kind
of evil, she would have been able to realize what was behind the serpent’s
lies. “(…) You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3:4-6) And because of both hers and Adams innocence, since he never
questioned Eve regarding her disregard to God’s command, both are punished for
disobeying God’s command, and having had their eyes opened to all evil, no
longer can live in Eden.
It can be argued that Goodman Brown, unlike Adam and
Eve, knew exactly what he was going in the forest for. He had absolute
knowledge of who he was going to meet, why they would go in such evil errand, and
the consequence of him participating in the ritual, and thus can be considered
to be much more accountable for the consequences that followed. Even though he
had second thoughts at all times as he walked through the woods, he failed to
resist and to stick to his principles, still proceeding and consequently
causing his own misery.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of
the field which the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1). The serpent was the one
who caused Adam and Eve’s fall, therefore the conveyer of evil. The same,
therefore, can be argued to have been done to Goodman Brown, but not through
the very symbolically portrayed staff, described by Hawthorne as one “which
bore the likeness of a black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost
be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent” (p. 404), but by the
man, whose name is never mentioned, who carried such staff. An elder man, with
an “indescribable air of one who knew the world” (Hawthorne p. 404), apparently
known to Goodman Brown, and apparently, as the man mentions, well known to both
Goodman Brown’s father and grandfather.
Unlike in Genesis, the devil in Hawthorne
Faith, his wife, is used in the story very
symbolically as the one thing that still kept Goodman Brown from going to the
ritual, “Faith kept me back a while (…).” (Hawthorne Hawthorne
“There
was one voice, of a young woman, uttering lamentations, (…). And all the unseen
multitude, both saints and sinners, seemed to encourage her onward. ‘Faith!’
Shouted Goodman Brown (…)
The
young man seized it and beheld a pink ribbon. ‘My faith is gone!’ cried he (…)
“There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name. Come, devil! For to thee is
this world given.” (p. 408)
There are also two other aspects in Hawthorne
Finally we are forced to discuss and wonder about
the danger of having the knowledge of good and evil, since it has such a
central role in both stories. It could perhaps be that, like the saying “What
you don’t know, won’t hurt you”, having the knowledge of evil can only cause
harm to people. God did not want Adam and Eve to eat from the fruit of the tree
of knowledge of good and evil because he had created them innocent creatures
and wanted them to remain so. Once they knew evil, and knew shame, they were
immediately affected by such knowledge, immediately changing their behavior.
“…and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and
made themselves coverings.” (Genesis 3:7). In the same manner, Goodman Brown
became affected by his knowledge. He became suspicious, bewildered, “a stern, a
sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man (…)” (Hawthorne
Once one is able to put these two stories side by
side, their similarities become obvious. The fall of Goodman Brown can be said
to have been caused by the same kind of knowledge acquired by Adam and Eve –
the knowledge of good and evil. In both stories, the devil succeeds in
corrupting innocent people, with facts and lies about those known to them,
making them feel the evil way is the only/ right way. Hawthorne was very
insightful as he wrote the story, with lots of symbolic features, some evident
and some more subtle to bring to the reader a view of a much more modern story
about sin, and the importance of maintaining our beliefs no matter what.
Goodman Brown let himself be convinced by the devil, and losing all his faith,
let evil and wrongdoing be his only reality from then on. Although it is
arguable that he may have had no other choice than to become a disbeliever, it
was still his free will that led him to the ritual, and that led him to
distrust everyone at all times afterwards. Perhaps Hawthorne meant to tell the
reader that unlike Adam and Eve, who were punished by God, we still have the
free will to make our own decisions, and therefore to still seek the good among
all evil in society.
Bibliography
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.
“Young Goodman Brown”. Literature. An
Introduction to Reading Henry E. Upper Saddle
River : New Jersey
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Chelsea House Publishers. New York
The Nelson Study
Bible. Radmacher, Earl D. Thomas Nelson
Publishers: Tennessee
