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Make sure you’ve read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil” before posting. 1) Read “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” before posting.2) then answer below questions
- The ending of “Young Goodman Brown” is certainly disturbing. Brown becomes an angry recluse, unable to set aside his suspicions and participate as a loving man of faith in his community. In fact, he loses his faith in every way possible. Think about why this happens to him. What does Brown want that he cannot have after his night in the woods, and why is his reaction to not getting what he wants so damaging? What do you think his early faith was based on, and was it always flawed?
- Mr. Hooper’s vow never to remove the black veil while he is on Earth leads him to a life of isolation in which he is revered as a minister but reviled as a friend. If the veil is a manifestation of humankind’s secret sinfulness–which prevents true intimacy between people–who is more to blame for this unhappy circumstance: Mr. Hooper for refusing to remove the veil, or the community for refusing to see the veil for what it is and to accept Mr. Hooper’s vow? Or are both equally to blame?
