Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

But he did not provide any information why he was forced to write about the hypocrisy of some Christians . But based on what McCabe wrote about the Puritans there is enough information to deduce that legalism is the major reason why Hawthorne needed to speak against the stranglehold of Puritanism

Conclusion

Hawthorne was able to show what America was like a few centuries ago the impact of religion constructive and destructive - able to build and destroy . Young Goodman Brown is a classic example of what will happen when the Christian religion

is used out of context . At its most basic form Christianity is the distillation of Jesus ' teachings which in turn can be further compressed into tow major aspirations : to love God and to love other human beings . There is nothing wrong with this idea . An overview of Western history will show that so much good has been accomplished through Christianity . The Bill of Rights , abolition of slavery , orphanages , and homeless shelters are just a few of the examples

But by simply upsetting the balance between the two aforementioned commandments can turn this religion into something that is so destructive it drove Young Goodman Brown to insanity . It can be argued that Jesus knew beforehand how others would use religion to perpetuate power and prop up their ego and that is why he added that it not good enough to simply be zealous for God but there is also a need to love others . Puritanism started out good , a fiery devotion to God but then after a while it lost track of why it has to be zealous in the first place - it is to love whom God loved Beach , R . et al . Teaching Literature to Adolescents . New Jersey Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates , Inc , 2006

McCabe , M . Nathaniel Hawthorne : Young Goodman...