How the Elements of Fiction are Used in Hawthorns Young Goodman Brown

Desiree Terry

English Composition II

23 February 2012

Outline
Introduction
Thesis: Hawthorne uses the Elements of fiction in Young Goodman Brown to depict a story of his family’s history and religious background.
I Hawthorne uses time periods, location and physical structure settings that all relate to the Purity society and his historical family story.
A. The first setting in young Goodman brown was set in Salem village. This is significant to the story because the witch trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts.
B. Hawthorne tells us this in the first paragraph first line by writing. Young Goodman brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem …show more content…

Hawthorne’s mental and moral beliefs are revealed throughout “Young Goodman Brown”. Like Hawthorne, Brown struggles with his own morality within his own biographical framework. Puritans believed that the fall of Adam was the inheritance of all men, and that redemption came only through Christ. Hawthorne came to believe that the fall was by human contrivance, which “damnation is to develop stories from what he had learned about his family background. Hawthorne used time periods, location and physical structure setting that relate back to the Puritan society and his historical family history. The first setting of the story is in Salem Village. This is significant to the story because the witch trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts. For example in the first line of the entire piece, Hawthorne writes, “Young Goodman Brown came forth at sunset into the street at Salem Village”. Hawthorne viewed his Puritan ancestors with a mixture of pride and guilt. He felt pride in seeing the history of his own family interwoven with that of Salem (Turner 5). Hawthorne was proud of their accomplishments, but on the other hand, he felt guilt for his ancestors part in witch trials and intolerant prosecution of Quakers. In “Young Goodman Brown” the devil tells brown that “I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly” (Hawthorne ). One way Hawthorne uses the physical structure to describe his