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  • Essay / Symbols and Flaws in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Short Stories

    In his works Young Goodman Brown, The Ministry's Black Veil, and The Birth-Mark, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to show that all humans are inherently flawed and sinful by nature, and teaches the lesson that you cannot obsess over it or try to overcome the nature of our natural imperfections, because this will lead to self-destruction. Each story features symbols that represent the innate flaws of humanity, such as the important people in Goodman Browns' lives who are part of the Devil's community, the veil, and the birthmark. Through each of these symbols, the characters Goodman Brown, the Minister and Aylmer recognize that everyone is naturally imperfect and cannot give up this knowledge. Knowing this affects them deeply and causes each of them to live a sad and lonely life. Hawthorne uses these stories to teach us not to obsess over the fact that everyone is naturally imperfect like these characters did. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne uses the characters Goodman Brown sees in the Devil's congregation as symbols of revered people who are naturally sinful in order to show that everyone is inherently flawed. Goodman Brown's reaction to seeing this serves as a lesson: obsessing over the natural fact that all humans are sinful can be extremely damaging. Characters such as Goodman Brown's ancestors whom he admired, such as Goody Cloyce who taught him, the supposedly pious minister and the supposedly noble deacon, represent wholesome and respectable people who contributed to Goodman Brown's life . , and Hawthorne uses them to show that even people who seem worthy are naturally sinners. Goodman Brown admires all of these characters and thinks they are particularly virtuous, but he discovers that they are affiliated with the Devil. The Devil also represents Goodman Brown's grandfather in the story, showing that even "venerable" people we can look up to are sinners. At the end of the story, his faith helps him leave the sinful community, but he can never let go of the fact that all the people so important in his life are so sinful. From then on, he looks at all these people in a different way; he was obsessed with the fact that everyone was naturally so imperfect and couldn't handle this knowledge. He became a “severe, sad, somber and meditative, suspicious” man. He was transformed and essentially destroyed by obsessing over this fact. Hawthorne uses his story to teach the lesson that we are all naturally sinful and imperfect, but we cannot obsess about it because it will destroy us. In The Minister's Black Veil, Hawthorne uses the black veil as a symbol of sins to give another example. of someone who has realized that everyone is inherently flawed and is obsessed with it, which leads to his downfall. By chance, the minister veils himself one day and refuses to take it off for the rest of his life on Earth. He does this as a symbol of his recognition of his own sins and claims that "on every face [there is] a black veil." He claims that everyone wears black veils, symbolizing sins, and he chooses to carry his sins for the rest of his life. Wearing the Black Veil frightened people and eventually caused him to die a lonely and isolated man. Hawthorne uses the minister as an example of someone who is obsessed with the natural corruption of man and ends up draining his life because of it. This constitutes.