Analysis of View of Life and Death of Christianity on Western Culture

陈曦

【Abstract】Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American famous novelist and short story writer. He is also famous for his outstanding use of symbolism in his works， and also his themes around Puritanism， original sin， punishment， etc. Young Goodman Brown is one of his short stories. Regarded as an allegoric story， it is loved by many readers for its vivid narrations and interesting plots. The Scarlet Letter is one of his novels， which can be regarded as Hawthornes masterpiece.

This paper is an analysis on Hawthornes view of life and death of Christianity on western culture， through taking Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter for Examples. At first， the paper will make an introduction of Christianity， Puritanism and original sin， which make great influences on Hawthornes creation. Next， the background knowledge about Hawthorne and the contents of the two works will also be introduced. With the profound background knowledge， the paper will make an analysis on the comparison of the two works from four perspectives： the writing background， the style of writing， the characterization， and the design of plots. This paper can make contributions to studies in this field. In addition， the paper can be a good and useful reference to both scholars and students who are interested in Hawthorne and his works.

【Key words】The Scarlet Letter; Young Goodman Brown; life and death; Christianity

1 Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer. He is also famous for his symbolism in his works， and also his themes around Puritanism， original sin， punishment， etc. Young Goodman Brown is one of his short stories. Regarded as an allegoric story， it is loved by many readers for its vivid narrations and interesting plots. The Scarlet Letter is one of his novels， which can be regarded as Hawthornes masterpiece. In the two works， Hawthorne shows his own viewpoint on life and death of Christianity. This paper is a study of his view of life and death under the influence of his era and puritan religion. For the analysis， the paper will take Young Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter for examples， and will compare the two works if necessary.

2 Theatrical Basis of View of Life and Death

2.1  Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament. As for Christians， adherents of Christianity， they believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Christian theology claims that Jesus Christ is a teacher， the model of a virtuous life， the revealer of God， as well as an incarnation of God， and most importantly the savior of humanity who suffered， died， and was resurrected to bring about salvation from sin. Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith and the most important event in human history.

In the 17th century， as a branch of Christianity， the Calvinist， in order to avoid the religious persecution， began to move to the North America from the UK together with other Protestants. In this way， based on the theological doctrine created by the Calvinist， Puritanism formed in the New Land， and later occupied the key position， which contributed to the ideological formation of politics and religion in the New England from the 17th century. Till the 18th century， with the rapid development of economy， the early sense of mission among those puritans generally disappeared. Under the influence of the victory of the American Revolution， French Revolution， Western Enlightenment， and Industrial Revolution; traditional Christian doctrines was confronted with various threats. As for the puritans， there were big changes in their morality and ethics. In their opinion， God is the only god creating the universe， and is the source of everything. As a transcendent existence， God is separated from time and space. All what human beings， created by God， can do is to give praise to God and everything God created. However， on the other hand， they also agreed with the opinion on humans depravation and original sin. They developed an extreme idea that， the world we live centers in God， or in the evil. In this way， they were involved in the contradictions of binary opposition： God or Satan， good or evil， faith or guilt， angel or devil， unforgivable sin or unforgivable sin， etc.

For these reasons， they couldnt understand why God created everything， but still there was the existence of evil. In this way， under the guidance of their belief in humans original sin， depravation and doomed destiny， with their consciousness of sin， puritans feels that， at every moment， they are threatened and coaxed by Satan， and there is no connection between them and God， which leads to their doubt on their faith and religious belief.

So among all the Hawthorne， the themes are always around sin， religion， punishment， etc.

2.2  Original Sin

Original sin， also called ancestral sin， is the Christian doctrine of humanitys state of sin resulting from the fall of man， stemming from Adams rebellion in Eden. It is said that it is due to Adams yielding to temptation in eating of the forbidden fruit and the original sin has been inherited by his descendants. However， the majority do not hold the view that Adam is responsible for the sins of humanity， because God recognized that Adams sins are his alone. Adam is recognized by some as having brought death into the world by his disobedience. In this way， there are different ways currently explaining the cause of original sin. The formalized doctrine of original sin was first developed in the 2nd century by Irenaeus， the Bishop of Lyons， in his struggle