Nathaniel Hawthorne used symbolism throughout his works Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil. He teaches that humans are naturally flawed and sinful and that it is not possible to obsess about it or attempt to overcome it. This will only lead to self-destruction. The symbols in each story represent humanity’s inherent flaws. Goodman Browns is one example. Goodman Brown, Aylmer, and the Minister all see through each symbol that humanity is naturally flawed. This knowledge affects their lives deeply and leads to lonely and sad endings. These stories are used by Hawthorne to remind us to not obsess about the fact that we all have natural flaws like these characters.
Hawthorne makes Young Goodman Brown a symbol of sinful people and revered persons in order to demonstrate that everyone is intrinsically flawed. Goodman Brown’s reaction is a lesson in how obsessing on the fact that all humans sin can lead to a lot of problems. Goodman Brown looks up to Goody Clyce, his great-grandparents, and the Deacon. All these people are good and dignified people who have helped him. Hawthorne shows that even people who look sane can still be sinners. Goodman Brown admires the characters and believes they have a lot of virtue. However, he learns that some of them are associated with Satan. Goodman Brown’s grandfather is also the Devil in this story. This proves that even “venerable”, well-meaning people can still be sinners. He is saved by his faith at the end. However, he can not let go from the knowledge of how sinful all of the people in his life were. From that moment on, he began to look at everyone differently. He was “stern, sad, darkly meditative and distrustful”. This fact was what changed him and ultimately destroyed him. Hawthorne’s story shows that while we all have natural sins and flaws, obsessing over them will lead to our downfall. Randomly, he veils himself and refuses take off his black veil for the rest. As a sign of his acceptance of his sins, he wears the black veil every day. The Black Veil made him feel isolated and scared, which eventually led to his death. Hawthorne uses Hawthorne’s example to show how someone who obsesses over the natural corruption of human beings can end up destroying his life. This serves to remind us that it is important to accept humanity’s inherent flaws without letting them control our lives.
The Birth-Mark shows Aylmer committing the same mistake as Aylmer: obsessing on Georgiana’s “flaw” birthmark. Georgiana can be described as beautiful and perfect, her only flaw being her unusual birthmark. This birthmark symbolizes Georgiana’s fault. This symbol is used by Hawthorne to demonstrate that even “perfect” people can have flaws. Aylmer is obsessed with the birthmark and determined to get rid of it. Aylmer tries to overcome the limitations of nature and defeat them with science, but he accidentally kills Georgiana. He became so obsessed with nature’s inherent flaws that it was impossible to let go of them. This led him to kill his wife and, like the other characters, to a miserable, lonely life.
These stories show that everyone is flawed and sinful. Each character obsesses over them, which leads to their downfalls. These flaws are discovered by each character and they cannot let go. This leads to them being isolated from others and causing them to suffer unhappiness and even death. These stories are used by Hawthorne to show that humans are all naturally flawed. However, we cannot change its nature, which ultimately leads to our demise.
