By: Hope Peters, Hannah Peckett, Annette Moody, Amy

Massoth

Symbolism

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

The symbolism of the two short stories called

Young Goodman, and A Wall of Fire Rising

What the symbols are, and what they mean

How they compare to each other

How the stories differ from one another

How symbols work in the stories

WHAT IS SYMBOLISM?

Symbolism:• The use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by

giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

• Symbolism is “something that represents something else” (Mays 285).

THE LOATHLY WORMSymbols are used in

literature to illustrate important, underlying messages of a story as well as to support the

main theme. The Loathly Worm in “The Thing in

the Forest” by A.S. Byatt does not merely

supplement the story: it is in essence the full

embodiment of its theme.

FIGURES OF SPEECH VS. SYMB OLS

Figures of speech, while not actually symbols, have the same effect as symbols but use only words.

• Examples of these include irony, similes, and oxymorons.

WHAT’S AN ALLEGORY?

An allegory is a story that essentially is itself a

symbol or fictional parallel of life.

Allegories teach a lesson or moral simply and

without the usual ambiguity or hidden meanings

often found in literature. • “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

is an example of this form of symbolism.

SYMBOLISM & ALLEGORIES

“Come and find me!”-

Symbolism“Here I am!”-Allegories

YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN

Young Goodman Brown is a story that depicts the escapades of a man named Goodman Brown.

He travels the woods with the devil to discover humanity and his companions might not be quite as honorable as they seem.

He comes upon the people of the village congregated and

living for the devil.

Realizing he is surrounded by sinners and liars, Goodman

Brown dies a cynical, depressed, and melancholy individual.

Faith

THE STAFF The devil has a staff that has a carved serpent circling around it.

In the Christian bible, a story states that a woman named Eve is tempted by a serpent to defy god’s will.

Goodman Brown’s decision to follow the devil into the forest is based off of curiosity.

This is much like Eve’s curiosity to eat “the forbidden fruit.”

Therefore the serpent carved into the staff juxtaposes Eve’s struggle to sin with Young Goodman Brown’s.

Symbols of Young Goodman Brown

FAITH’S PINK BOWS

Pink hair bows paint the picture of innocence, happiness, and frivolity.

At the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown associates the hair bows with his wife several times.

When in the forest, Goodman Brown reflects on his wife wearing them when struggling about the goodness and purity of humanity.

When a pink bow floats down from the sky, Goodman Brown believes this means Faith has shed her innocence and succumbed to the devil.

In the end, Faith is wearing her bows, suggesting the events of the night before might not have been reality.

Symbols of Young Goodman Brown

WILDERNESS In a great deal of stories,

Wilderness typically represents fear, or more specifically, of the unknown. It also represents evil and sin.

This great expanse of forest is characterized as being frightening, intimidating, and dark.

The farther Goodman Brown and the devil delve into the forest, the more complicated and evil Goodman Brown realizes the world and people are.

At the core of the forest, the height of his fear, he comes to the realization that the “good” people of his town, including his Faith, are in cahoots with the devil.

Symbols of Young Goodman Brown

MEETING IN THE FOREST

One the devil and Goodman Brown penetrate to the center of the forest, they come upon the congregation of the town’s people are all in league with the devil.

This is allegorical of the meeting of the people in church, as Goodman Brown had only seen prior to this horrifying realization.

While these people might meet together and pray in church, they are actually quite dastardly and are sinners in favor of the devil.

As predicted, Goodman Brown is appalled and forever scarred by this unveiling of the true nature of humanity.

Symbols of Young Goodman Brown

NAMES In many great short stories,

names can be highly significant in regard to symbolism.

Take for example Goodman Brown. He’s a good man who is simple and ordinary. “Brown” is a common last name. Therefore, we’re led to believe that he’s a stereotypical, wholesome, hardworking, typical man for his time period.

Think about his wife Faith. He has faith in her to remain an innocent and pure wife. She represents the goodness and happiness that humanity should possess. Also, she puts a great amount of faith into her husband.

Symbols of Young Goodman Brown

A WALL OF FIRE RISING

Although very different from “Young Goodman Brown”, “A Wall of Fire Rising” is another excellent example of symbolism within literature.

The story tells of an outer situation that symbolizes an inner battle, making it fairly comparable to “The Thing in the Forest”.

Author Edwidge Danticat uses the symbolism of the outer political atmosphere to describe and express the inner cries of Guy’s (the protagonist) heart. As a father and a husband, Guy feels trapped in his failures, enslaved to his circumstances.

GUY

Guy himself is symbolic, representing not just a character in a story but every man that has ever

lived.

He represents the struggle for freedom and

success that we as humans strive for.

Symbols of A Wall of Fire Rising

HOT AIR BALLOON

As the story progresses, we recognize the symbolism

found in the hot air balloon.

The balloon symbolizes for him not just an escape but

also a better life.

What he sees in the balloon is the potential that he has and the life he could live.

The balloon, for Guy, is freedom.

Symbols of A Wall of Fire Rising

THE MARTYR

Perhaps the most important symbolism, is found in the

relationship between Guy and Little Guy.

As Little Guy practices for his lines of a political hero, Guy

becomes more discontent with his life and views himself as a

failure.

Ultimately, in his death Guy was fulfilling the vision depicted in the play: he is the “martyr” for the cause so that his son can be greater and make the changes

that Guy himself did not.

This use of symbolism, tied so intricately into the story, was

masterful on the part of Danticat.

Symbols of A Wall of Fire Rising

A WALL OF FIRE RISING

“At night I relive once more the last caresses

from the hand of a loving father, a valiant love, a

beloved friend. . . . I call on everyone and anyone so

that we shall all let out one piercing cry that we may either live freely or we

should die” (Danticat 328).

Symbols of A Wall of Fire Rising

He was chained up in

horrible new outlook of

life

Faith depends on him

He dies inside

everyday

He wasn’t free

Guy was chained from the

life he wanted

His wife and little Guy

depended on him

He dies from committing

suicide

He wasn’t free

SIMILARITIES

Young Goodman Brown A Wall of Fire Rising

The short story had a

lot do with religion

Main symbol is having

faith

He dies old

He never gets freedom

Mainly about freedom

Main symbol is a hot

air balloon

He kills himself

Through his death he

gets freedom

DIFFERENCES

Young Goodman Brown A Wall of Fire Rising

CONCLUSION

symbolism is heavily present in (and in fact takes over) “Young Goodman Brown”, providing us with an excellent example of an allegory.

“A Wall of Fire Rising”, however, utilizes symbolism in a much less obvious but equally significant way by subtly sending symbolic messages throughout the story which together support the general theme.

Symbols provide an entertaining and impressionable way for the author to connect the meaning of a story to everyday life and make it personal for the reader.

WORKS CITED

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown."

(by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1835). N.p., n.d. Web. 15

Oct. 2014. Danticat, Edwidge. The Norton Introduction to Literature.

Shorter 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2013. 317-29. Print.

Mays, Kelly J. ed. The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013. Print.

WORKS CITED

Picture of Symbolism quote(slide 3) http://

meetville.com/quotes/tag/sense/page89

Picture of Symbolism (slide 3 middle pic)

http://counseling4career.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/symbolis

m /

Picture of Symbol (slide 3 right pic)

http://imgarcade.com/1/symbol-in-literature/

Clip art of religion (slide 4 holy bible)

Clip art of religion (slide 4 praying girl)

WORKS CITED

Clip art hot air balloon (slide 5)

Clip art hot air balloon (slide 5)

Clip art fire (slide 5)

Picture of freedom (slide 8) http://

www.logodesignlove.com/freedom-travel-the-chase

Picture of snake (slide 9) http://

www.oslhp.net/museum/Virtual%20Museum/Walking

%20Sticks/index.html

WORKS CITED

Picture of Pink bow (slide 10)

http://www.pinterest.com/amandagian1/simple-hairstyles/

Clip art of forest (slide 11)

Picture of empty church (slide 12) http://

wheretheriverruns.blogspot.com/2011/09/abandoned-churches-brok

en-communities.html

Picture of Amish couple (slide 13)

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11762107-an-amish-family-

reunion

Clip art of father (slide 17)