Compare and Contrast Essay

Navjot Sandhu

Period-3

Ap Lang

Sep,4,09

Decisions

Decisions,choices,disagreements and sacrifices. In this world these are one of the important things that human beings goes through. Every person goes through a time where they have to make important decisions that will change their life. And that decision will either make their life can be harmonious or it can be complete hell. In both Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Where are you going, Where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates, decisions play a major role. In Hawthrone’s story the protagonist is Young Goodman who leaves his wife and eventually goes in the forest with his companion the devil to perform a profane rite. And later on he decides to turn back from the ritual because he loses his faith(his wife and his faith), however in that instant when tries to depart , he finds himself alone. So,Brown wonders if it was reality or if he was dreaming. Similarly happening in a unconscious mind of state is Where are you going and Where have you been by Joyce Carol Oates. In Oates story the protagonist is Connie,a teenager girl who obligated by the antagonist Arnold Friend(the devil) to leave with him. And as she refuses ,he starts making her weak mentally until she compelled to go with him. Although, these two stories seem parallel to each other, they can be tied together as one if looked closely. And which makes these two distinctive yet comparable at the same time.

Both of these stories have a major commonality which is the idea of devil which tried to veil a cast upon us. The Young Goodman Brown story depicts the idea of puritan society which is the same setting as The Crucible. Oates story’s setting is in the 1970 during which rape rates had tripled. So the stories purpose was how the time period effected the women and in this case connie. Even though, the settings are centuries apart, they both have one thing in common-the devil. In both stories the devil manipulates the characters and wheedles them to make the wrong decision. In where are you going,where have you been, Arnold was wheedling connie and trying to persuade her to go with him. Arnold says “[he will ] have [his] arms around [connie]...[he will]show [connie] what love is like”, trying to allure her to go with him (¶50) . And she falls for him which is identical to Brown’s decision. The devil befriends with him and tries to be his guardian when he says “ [Browns parents] were [his] good friends ... merrily after midnight(¶18). So, this convinces him to make the wrong decision and continue with the devil.

However there are other variances that these narratives have such as the motifs. Therefore, the theme for Young Goodman Brown is how strict puritan society overemphasis on sins due to suspicion which creates distrust. On the contrary, for where are you going and where have you been , the theme is appearance and how things can get out of hands if you advertise your beauty it. Aside from that there is a common theme that holds these two together, which reality and search for identity. Both Connie and Brown aren’t sure if they are imagining or if its reality and are lost in finding their identity. Another difference they have is the word choice; Hawthrone uses old English with words like “sayest thou so?”(¶16) where as Oates uses more modern English. Antithetical yet identical these stories go back and forth in having elements that are common and different.

Apart from that, I saw a connection between Young Goodman Brown and Adam and Eve which is the snake. Just like Adam and Eve, Brown seek enigmatic knowledge which eventually leads them to wreckage. The staff is like the snake, where the snake leads Adam and Eve to the Tree of Knowledge ; just like that the staff leads Brown to the Devil’s Ceremony. So, both lose something where for Brown losses his faith and Adam and Eve are expelled from their paradise. So, this is a another story that appeared similar to Hawthorne’s story.

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Joyce Carol Oates teach readers a vital lesson about reality. And these stories show people how to make decisions carefully because once you make a decision there is no turning back which is reality.