Young Goodman Brown Discussion Questions

Prompt

Answer the question using a claim. Have your support and evidence ready to share. This will not be graded as an essay - but you will participate in debate discourse on this topic on Monday.

Answer the questions Hawthorne asks in lines 553-554: "Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?"

Response

Claim: In "Young Goodman Brown", Goodman Brown most likely falls asleep and dreams of wild events of the witch meeting, given the description of the setting, symbolic meanings of events/characters, and ambiguity which Hawthorn weaves into the story.

• The setting matches one of a nightmare - it's a dark forest, which gives off feelings of gloominess, mystery - all which are related to nightmares
  • "A dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind."
• Unrealistic events such as the devil's staff turning into a serpent and witches meeting in the woods
• The symbolic nature of the characters could just be a result of Goodman's own imagination & subconscious thoughts and fears
• Transitions are abrupt, which is common in dreams as we jump from different scenes/phases during sleep
  • "They continued to walk onward, while the elder traveller exhorted his companion to make good speed and persevere in the path, discoursing so aptly that his arguments seemed rather to spring up in the bosom of his auditor than to be suggested by himself."
• Hawthorn never makes it clear whether it's a dream or reality which Goodman is experimenting, which draws a fine line between reality and illusion - similar to dreams
  • The question of which was cited in the prompt supports this idea