Symbolism in “Young Goodman Brown”
Symbolism in “Young Goodman Brown”
NathanielHawthornewasbornonJuly 4,1804,in Salem,Massachusetts, where his birthplace is now a museum.WilliamHathorne,who emigratedfromEnglandin 1630,wasthefirstofHawthorne’sancestors to arrive in the colonies. After arriving,WilliampersecutedQuakers. Williamson John Hathornewasoneofthe judges who oversaw the
SalemWitchTrials.(Onetheoryisthathavinglearnedaboutthis,the author added the “w” to his surname in his early twenties, shortly after graduating from college.)Hawthorne’sfather, NathanielHathorne,Sr.,was a sea captain who died in 1808ofyellowfever, whenHawthorne was only four year sold, in Raymond, Maine. Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College at the expense of an uncle from 1821to 1824,befriending classmates Henry Wadsworth Long-fellow and future president Franklin Pierce. While there he joined the DeltaKappaEpsilonfraternity