“Young Goodman Brown” is an eerie tale of one man’s fear and paranoia of evil within the world. Hawthorne uses heavy allegory to portray the idea that there is a very fine balance of good and evil all around us. Engage students with premade activities and lessons from Storyboard That.
Young Goodman Brown TWIST (Tone, Word Change, Imagery, Style, Theme)
Storyboard Text
T-TONE
W-WORD CHOICE
I-IMAGERY
S-STYLE
T-THEME
Confused & Perplexed: Young Goodman Brown is confused and in disbelief. His faith is tested when he is tossed into the devil's circle and sees so many members of his community that he once believed were pious.
Hid, cloud, black mass, confused, doubtful, indistinct, murmurs, whisper
“...he... had lifted his hands to pray, a cloud, though no wind was stirring, hurried across the zenith and hid the brightening stars. The blue sky was still visible, except directly overhead, where this black mass of cloud was sweeping swiftly northward.”
The narrator uses particular imagery and metaphors in his description to illustrate the evil around him. Although he searched for God, there were literal obstacles which kept him from goodness.
The narrator speaks of the darkness that surrounds him as a physical veil from goodness. The darkness, doubt, and fear he experiences are clearly the work of the devil. As he looks around at community members and at his own wife, he realizes that his faith has been shattered.