From Gothic Fiction To Magical Realism: A Study Of Hawthorne’s Short Story “Young Goodman Brown”

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the great American romantic novelists of the19 th century.His works have a far-reaching impact on later generations.“Young Goodman Brown” is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835,collected in Twice-Told Tales.The tale tells the story of the hero Goodman Brown who was confronted with the vision of human evil on one terrible night,which led to his final self-degradation.This paper combines Gothic fiction and Magical Realism to explore the ideological changes of Goodman Brown in his experience from a series of events.Brown accidentally encountered human being’s evil ethical reality in the haunted forest,immersed himself in finding the evil side of the village’s noble people,absurdly viewed his life,and therefore lost faith in life.After the trip,although Brown had been skeptical of the real external world,he indulged in the evil side of human nature.Brown ignored his degeneration in dealing with life.Brown’s wrong understanding of human nature and his unilateral understanding of Puritanism led to his final self-destruction.Brown underwent an identity crisis,and his belief also collapsed,which reflects today’s human being’s spiritual survival dilemma.Through Gothic fiction and Magical Realism,Hawthorne shows Brown and the villagers’ different choices in facing the evil in their hearts.It enlightens future generations to make the right decision and live better.From this story,Hawthorne also implies that people can not live without a faith,let alone with a wrong one.