Literature

The Nature of Faith and Its Consequences in two American Short Stories

Many authors have sought to capture the notion of faith and its place in the psychological fabric of individuals . They have sought to discover what it is that makes one person believe (or not believe ) in another person or in a group of people so strongly but without solid proof . In Young Goodman Brown ' Nathaniel Hawthorne takes the position that blind faith in humanity and religion is foolish and napve . In A Good Man is Hard to Find ' Flannery O 'Conner

appears to support that same position but with the idea that faith cannot easily be faked . Both stories center on the idea of faith in humankind , but while the first story leaves the reader with a somewhat ambiguous ending , the second story makes its lesson perfectly clear . Both stories show the reader that blind faith or fabricated faith in humanity can produce tragic consequences

Both stories immediately present the dichotomy between `good ' and `bad The title of Hawthorne 's story presents the reader with the allegorical man , Young Goodman Brown , who is initially set up as the ultimate test subject who fully expects to conquer the evil this one night 's quest will bring him . After all , he has descended from a race of honest men and Christians since the days of the martyrs (Hawthorne 318 , so he should easily be able to resist the evil in the forest . The truism inherent in the title of O 'Connor 's story , A Good Man is Hard to Find ' echoes the idea that a man truly deserving of one 's faith may not exist . The self-righteous grandmother in this story cannot stop harping on the dangers of traveling to Florida now that the Misfit is on the loose . She declares that I wouldn 't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it . I couldn 't answer to my conscience if I did (O 'Connor 495 . In Young Goodman Brown Goodman and his wife , Faith , represent the good in people while the evil and secret doings in the forest represent the bad . In A Good Man is Hard to Find ' the Misfit clearly represents the bad , while the unwelcome maxims of the grandmother represent the good

Goodman and the grandmother 's perceptions of faith are tested in each of these stories . As Goodman ventures further and further into the woods he is joined on his journey by familiar faces - his Sunday School teacher , a church deacon , a man who looks very much like his own forefathers . He is told stories of his family 's wickedness , but he does not believe them . However , the grandmother is not a bit trusting . She notes to a filling station proprietor , Red Sammy , that It isn 't a soul in this green world of God 's that you can trust .and I don 't count nobody bout of that , not nobody (O 'Connor 499 . Goodman becomes more and more...