The main characters in “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Araby” by James Joyce are people of different ages and backgrounds. However, there is a certain similarity between the events that happened to them as well as their reaction that was triggered by the need for readjustment. Both characters undergo a transformation process that will change their idealistic perceptions of the world and learn the truth about reality.
The first character, Goodman Brown, is a married Puritan man who sees no faults in people surrounding him at the beginning of the story. He has a strong belief in God and the good intentions of the inhabitants of Salem village, and this idealized perception allows him to close his eyes to injustice (Hawthorne). The meeting with the Devil that resembles himself in the forest shows him the other side of the coin, and his life transforms in such a way that Goodman cannot accept the society anymore.
The second character is a romantic boy who is in love with a girl. Nevertheless, his ideals related to romance and feelings are based on distorted perceptions learned from the books he likes to read. One day, he decides to leave his cozy little world and buy a present for his beloved on the bazaar (Joyce). Upon entering the shop, he sees a woman flirting with two men and paying little attention to the customer. This scene makes him reconsider his ideals, and the boy leaves the place, thereby leaving there his illusions about love.
The two characters from the stories face the situations in which the transformation of their views is unavoidable. The only difference between their circumstances is the focus on either love or religion and the ideals that correspond to these notions. Thus, “Araby” and “Young Goodman Brown” are the stories that both explore the processes transforming one’s consciousness of the surroundings and destroying illusions of main characters about the people around them.
Works Cited
Joyce, James. Araby. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Simon and Schuster, 2012.