Comparing Araby and Young Goodman Brown Essay

Acquiring new knowledge is a part of life. The protagonists in Araby, by James Joyce and Young Goodman Brown, by Nathanial Hawthorne both reflect the idea of one awakening on new knowledge. However, the tone is expressed differently in each of these stories. In Araby, one sees that the author is compassionate towards the protagonist, while in Young Goodman Brown a darker, more depressing tone is sensed.

In each of these short stories, the theme of realizing knowledge is present. The protagonist in both stories discovers something that is life-changing. In, Araby, the protagonist is in love with his friends sister. He would take extra measures just to catch a glimpse of her. He was mesmerized by the way she looked, moved and even the way the light hit her. They finally talked and he promised to buy her something at the bazaar. For the next while ,that thought consumed him. The night of his intended visit to the bazaar, everything seems to go wrong. His uncle came home late and he almost could not go. When he reached the bazaar, almost all the stations were closed. He went to one of the open ones and discovered something he hasa never encounter. The women running the stand was flirting with two other men. This was where he became aware of how real women actually act. She was not doing anything obscene but it was nothing like what he pictured. He was nave and unaware of the flirting. It disappointed him for he had just gone through all of these hardships to try and impress someone who he thinks was completely different than what he wanted. When he saw this women flirting, it changed all of his beliefs on real women and he realized that women are not like he envisioned.

In Young Goodman Brown, Brown realized that there is evil in the world and that not everything is as it seems. Before he went on his journey, he based his idea of people through his wife, Faith. She was a symbol of everything good and pure in the world and Brown guilelessly tried to keep his beliefs in that view, though his thoughts were not always pure. As the events on his journey in the forest unfolded with the Devil, Brown soon had to accept the fact that there is evil all around and even what seems good may not be after all. For example, he finds out that his old catechist teacher, the minister and the Deacon all have associated with the Devil. He travels on his journey still, as though it is consuming him, and he later discovers his own wife, Faith, was attending the witchs Sabbath also. It was after these events, particularly the one with his wife, the made him come to the realization of evils presence in the world and that it was just not in his thoughts.

The tone of these short stories differs even though their themes match. Araby describes a tone of how though one may be flawed with their dream; it is alright for it may happen to anyone. The author is sympathetic towards the protagonist for he made an innocent mistake that he must learn from. While in Young Goodman Brown, the tone is developed as dark and dismal and the events, real or not, change Brown considerably. In Araby, the protagonist envisioned what being with his friends sister was going to be like. He admired her from afar, but never really talked to her. Without the knowledge of who she was as a person, it was hard for him to tell what she was like. When he discovered what real women act like, he was gravely disappointed for now what he pictured with the girl he adored was false. He made a mistake and now he has to learn from it and the author shows this by how he describes the main character at the end, I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem the more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar (Joyce). He seemed frustrated in what just happened and in himself for his idea of what it was going to be like with his crush. This ending gives the reader a sense of compassion for the protagonist and they know through his acquired knowledge that he has learned his lesson.

However, when reading Young Goodman Brown the reader gets a deep and depressing feeling from the story. Though the main character obtains knowledge, he has changed for the worse. Throughout the story, the setting is shaded and dim for he is traveling through a dense forest. Along the way, Brown saw signs of his ideas of good diminish. He was frantic, hesitant and fearful. He has lost everything he believed was good when his wife was at the meeting. He may have gained new truth, but it was in a cruel, sorrowful way. These events altered him greatly, A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream (Hawthorne). This provides for the dismal tone reflected in this short story.

The two short stories, Araby and Young Goodman Brown both have a theme of the protagonist acquiring and realizing a new truth and gaining knowledge. The tones of these two however differ. Araby has a tone that is sympathetic and is understanding of the main characters mistake. While Young Goodman Brown shows a deep and dismal tone of the new knowledge Brown acquires will on his journey.