Critiques of the Puritan Norms by Nathaniel Hawthorne in...

Nathaniel Hawthorne was known, in his works, for providing stirring critiques of the Puritan norms that were so prominent during his time. As a writer, he was also willing to challenge the institutions that other people found sacred, and beyond that, he hoped to challenge perceptions of what it meant to live a normal life during that time. One of the primary themes of Puritanism is the concept of original sin, and Hawthorne seemed to have a preoccupation with this concept. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† Hawthorne uses different characters and different scenes to make important statements on the nature of Puritan life. Specifically, the two works are linked from a thematic perspective. They both focus on the ways in which the Puritan concept of sin can cause a soul-crushing brand of guilt that afflicts all parts of a person’s life. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† the title character is thrust into a dream-like scen ario where he and his wife Faith are drawn before a group of people who are aggressively hoping for them to convert in what could only be described as a scary forest rite. The story is set during the period of time when the Salem witch trials would have been taking place, so there is an added layer of tension implicit in the work. Goodman goes into the forest, and when he is brought in front of the town’s people to take the rite, he calls out to God and refuses to do so. The dream shakes him in a very literal way. He loses faith in almost