The Setting in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

沈黎霞

The setting of a literary work is simply where and when the action in that work takes place： indoors， outdoors， in nature， in a city， etc. Setting includes general social background that underlies the story and specific environmental conditions that frame the action.Therefore， setting can be useful in creating a mood or evoking an emotion that will prepare the reader for what is to come. The setting in Young Goodman Brown is indispensable to the understanding of the whole story and in my opinion， it can be interpreted in two ways.

In a large sense， the setting here is early Puritan New England. The story takes place in a place called Salem Village， known as the village of witchcraft in the 1690s. In the Puritan religion， the doctrine taught that all men are totally depraved and are required to constantly check themselves to dutifully recognize the negative aspects of their behavior.Puritans see that they are sinners and unworthy of God's Grace. Hawthorne sets Young Goodman Brown into such a context of Puritan rigidity that the consequence of such a system of belief is implied in the story.

Having been educated in such a Puritan system， as Franklin observes，“as part of the Puritan upbringing ...Brown doubtless would have sat through many sermons that emphasized innate depravity， which his family of churchgoers presumably reinforced ...” （71）， Young Goodman Brown witnesses the devil in the old traveler who is in the guise of Brown s own father and in Goody Cloyse who is his catechism instructor. He can not accept the truth that such a good Puritan he originally thinks is in fact in alliance with the devil. His remark that “that old woman taught me my catechism” demonstrates that his faith is now at stake.

The early Puritan catechism actually made people distrusting， either in themselves or in others， even including their religious ministers. Such a system can not create an atmosphere where faith exists， no wonder Brown exclaims： “ my faith is gone”. Thats the consequence： no faith in humanity， no faith in religion.

This description in the beginning of the story does not specify the place where Goodman Brown is going. However， it is clear that this action takes place at night in the forest. More significantly， in this depiction， we sense something evil hidden behind the “gloomiest trees” and also the fear of the unknown. The fact that it is a “dreary road”leads us to believe that this road very likely is towards a dangerous or devilish place.Such a dark gloomy forest at night inevitably originates mysterious， uncertain feelings of horror.

It is a writing scheme of external setting reflecting interior consciousness， in another word， physical surroundings mirror the interior struggle or state of mind of a character.In the case of Young Goodman Brown， the originally harmless， innocent woods are portrayed as a horrible， hellish place， and thus Browns psychologically struggling state is reinforced. Forest is one of the classic symbols of Hawthorne， and unlike the forest in Scarlet Letter， in this story， “the deeper he moves into the forest， the more completely he becomes one with his‘evil” （Bunge 13）.

The mysterious laughter in the forest also serves as an element of setting， which highlights the inner conflict between good and evil inside Brown.According to Coldiron， “Hawthorne uses laughter to mark his protagonists epiphanies and to emphasize points of thematic conflict.” Altogether three people make laughter respectively. It is the Satan-figure who initiates the hideous laughter， mocking Browns naive belief in the innocence of the townspeople.

To appreciate fictions better， especially those of Hawthorne， we need to turn to the settings， whether general social or specific environmental settings. Only in this way can we gain insight into the character's emotions， conflicts and authors motives. The setting of Young Goodman Brown is one of the most classic in literary works and always deserves our ardent study.

Reference：

[1]Bunge， Nancy.Nathaniel Hawthorne： A Study of the Short Fiction.New York： Twayne， 1993.

[2]Coldiron， A.E.B. “Laughter as Thematic Marker in ‘Young Goodman Brown.” Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 17 （Spring 1991）： 19.

[3]Franklin， Benjamin V.“Goodman Brown and the Puritan Catechism.” ESQ 40 （1994）： 67-88.

[4]Hawthorne， Nathaniel.“Young Goodman Brown.”1835.

[5]The Heath Anthology of American Literature.Ed.Paul Lauter et al.2nd ed.Vol.1.Lexington： Heath， 1944.2129-38.