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The hollow of the three hills and young goodman brown

“ The Hollow of the Three Hills” and “ Young Goodman Brown” are story of dishonor deceit, and death. The two stories contain symbolism and relate in many ways. In “ The Hollow of the Three Hills” The author, Nathaniel Hawthorn portrays the main character as a beautiful woman with a shameful past. She tries to run from her problems but comes to find out no matter how big or small a problem, trying to run from it will only make the problem follow. The main character was so driven by curiosity that she brought herself to go see a witch.

They met in a place described by Hawthorne as “ a hollow basin, almost mathematically circular, two or three hundred feet in breadth the resort of the Power of Evil and his plighted subjects. ” (Hawthorne 103) This describes the character as someone who had such a secret that she had to be where “ no mortal could observe them”(Hawthorn) She wanted this witch to help her see and hear what was happening with her loved ones; but she only had one hour to do so and after this one hour she would die. Hawthorne did come out and say this but in saying things like “ there is but a short hour that we may tarry here. (Hawthorne 103) and I will do your bidding though I die (Hawthorne 103). She runs from everything that was important to her because the most important, was dying.

Hawthorne was not too clear in stating what exactly the problem was but it seemed that her daughter had fallen ill. The story Hawthorne masks this fact well and uses foreshadowing nicely. In one part where the main character is looking in on her parents by means of the witches powers and Hawthorne describes her parents as speaking “… f a daughter, a wanderer they knew not where, bearing dishonor along with her, and leaving shame and affliction to bring their gray heads to the grave.

They alluded also to other and more recent woe,”(Hawthorne 104) The daughter wandering bearing shame is the main character, who tried to run from her problem which was what they spoke of next. The more recent woe they were alluding to was their granddaughter’s death . Next the main character looked in upon her husband which she had left to bear the brunt of their daughter’s mourning.

The main character had left her husband all alone in the world except for their dying daughter and was now feeling such remorse that she had to see a witch just to know how he was. He was not well at all, for she had broken his heart and “ he spoke of a woman’s perfidy, of a wife who had broken her holiest vows”(Hawthorne 104). In “ Young Goodman Brown”, the story displays one man’s journey to leave his home and comfort zone in order to fully explore his curiosity. He goes off into a forest and undergoes a life changing experience there. He encounters three different things that set him on the path to the journey of knowledge.

This forest was symbolic of an assessment of strength, bravery, and survival. It took determination to survive in the forest and the young person entering into it would not emerge the same. This story is more representative than realistic of the characters . This story is more of a vision or conscious daydream that is an allegory that is shown through symbolism. Many symbols, some of which have religious meaning, help Young Goodman Brown toward the path he wants to take. This unexpectedly causes Young Goodman Brown to distrust things due to his unexpected decision of occurrence a having gone through either a dream or reality.

In Young Goodman Brown, a figurative allegory is taking place. This traditional allegory is different from most others in that it derive from the symbolism of the plot, the setting, and the characters. The sub meaning of this story has social, political, and religious connection. The characters in this story were often dispayed with the emotions such as faith, greed, and evil. The characters names such as “ Goodman,” “ Faith,” and “ Gookin” are symbolic of religion and are at opposing ends of evil in the story. On the day of their wedding, Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife was wearing pink ribbons in her hair.

This was very symbolic of her being childlike and young. Also, everything that has to do with her is about her doubting herself and her relationship with Young Goodman Brown. It was important for Hawthorne to show the youth in these two characters. This was another religious reference. In the bible it states “ Who ever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not receive it at all. ” (Hawthorne, 635) This means that it is important to be like a child and be content without knowing everything else that is out there.

It also means that if one is on a quest for knowledge then he/she does not leave room for someone else to be higher than he/she to be all knowing. As an alternative of fearlessly encountering the evils that were in the forest and returning a more adult person, Goodman Brown is damage by this and figuratively dies at the end of the story. In both stories dishonor , deceit and death play a big factor . These two stories are symbolic and in order to understand them , you have to think critically and think outside the box.

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