A Good Man is Hard to Find and Young Goodman Brown: A Comparison
A good man is hard to find. The plot of Find centers on a family who is attempting to go from Georgia to Florida. The family's matriarch, the grandmother, insisted on taking them for a drive. While there, they met the Misfit, who made sure the entire family was killed.
The Existence of Evil
A man leaves his wife and home in Young Goodman Brown because he has a secret that he doesn't want his wife to learn. He encounters the majority of the people he had interacted with along the journey, and it is clear that they have all assumed new identities. The fundamental theme of both stories is negativity or the existence of the devil. The main difference is the manner in which each manifestation has occurred.
Differences in Perpetrators
One of the main differences in the stories is that in one case, it can be proven that the perpetrator is existent, while in the other incident, the main character either represents a figment of his imagination or the real-life events. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the character considered to be a devil is existent (O’Connor 498). The Bailey’s family gets to see who the Misfit is, who his people are, and even who killed him (Hawthorne 270). Although Brown sees his perpetrators, the following day he is not sure whether what he saw was the realistic depiction of the people or not. And at the time he was leaving home, he was already paranoid about his wife and the things he would encounter along the way.
Differences in Villains’ Actions
Another difference comes in the actions of both villains. In the first passage of A Good Man is Hard to Find, the evil in character is evident. The Misfit ends up making sure the entire family is dead and even kills the grandmother himself. In the second passage of Young Goodman Brown, those that are perceived to be evil do not do anything that can be considered dangerous to Brown. The context explains that he saw his wife turn into a witch and his companion resembled a devil, and the other characters were taking unpredicted forms.
Differences in Passage Descriptions
The passages are also different. In fact, while one provides an element of surprise regarding the audience, the other seems to lay it our bare. The writer does not hide the character of the misfit from the beginning (Hawthorne 273). By the time the Bailey family came into contact with him, he was already a fugitive, which explains the fear that ran through them at that time. In the second passage, the real characters are quite different from what Goodman encounters in the forest. The first one is his wife, whom he thought was innocent. The fact is supported when he was leaving; his wife protested, and she was afraid only for her to turn into a witch in the forest (O’Connor 499). His companion, whom he is supposed to trust, also turns into a devil. For him, it means that he has been living in a society of pretenders. On the contrary, in the first passage, we see that the Misfit did not let the expectations of the people down.
Differences in Characters' Conscience
Furthermore, the difference between the two passages also comes in the conscience that each of the characters carries. In the first passage, the family can be considered innocent. The Bailey family had its faults, but none of them deserved what happened to them in the end. They were taking a journey from Georgia to Florida. Although there are many wrongdoings they may have committed during their long journey, they were not intentional. In the second passage, however, Goodman was fully aware of his actions (Hawthorne 271). He was aware that venturing into the forest was wrong, and he was concealing the reason why he went there from his wife. It’s reasonable to say that while the Bailey family did not deserve its punishment, Goodman did.
Differences in Reality of Occurrences
The reality of occurrences in both passages is also questionable. In the first passage, the events are very vivid. The writer gives a clear explanation of the events of that day. He takes his readers all the way through the story, from the minute the family left their home up until the last one of them is killed. In the second story, one is not sure whether it was a real occurrence or a dream. The main reason is that when he comes back to his town, the people he witnessed taking other forms have come back to being who they usually are in life.
Shared Traditional Roles
One main similarity between the two stories is the fact that people have been placed in their traditional roles. In the first passage, for example, the grandmother can be easily forgiven for her racist comments since the story took place at a time when it was seen to be normal (O’Connor 498). In the second passage, Faith is made to take the traditional role of a wife by staying at home and not asking her husband questions. However, some of the characters and characteristics change throughout the story.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the two narratives have more differences than similarities. The first passage presents actual events as narrated by the author. The second story, however, leaves the readers wondering whether it is a fact or fiction.
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Book classic, 2015.
O’Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. New Canadian Library, 2015.
