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Young Goodman Brown the main character must flee the town of Salem for one night and to leave behind his wife Faith who is scared to stay alone. He is leaving in order to catch the morning sunset but his wife warns him to stay because of all the evil he may encounter while on his journey, he doesn’t listen, but tells her to pray before she goes to bed reassuring her everything will be alright. While on his journey he comes across a man dressed in normal clothing except for a walking staff with a serpent on it. I think the staff in the story symbolizes evil because its offered to Goodman as a guide through the forest but he’s already questioning if he should continue this trip, refusing the mans offer. Goodman’s thoughts of the forest were devilish ones especially when he stated “darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.” He though that from such a place how can someone be so kind, almost too good to be true. While gathering himself to return back to his wife Faith the man leaves him the staff incase he changes his mind, while relaxing he hears voices coming from a ceremony, and suddenly hears Faith’s voice. Hawthorne uses Faith to symbolize something pure and trustworthy but when Goodman assumes she’s attending this ceremony he quickly grabs the staff in hope that she’s not worshiping the devil. While there he eventually sees her and gives her words of wisdom to escape this tough situation. Faith, his wife was the only thing left that Goodman was clinching to and for her to worship the devil left him all alone.

Redion Lleshi

Williams Wordsworth poem ‘lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour” begins with the speaker reminiscing on his childhood years and recalling the memories he had when ever he visited this river. This river was a very sacred place for the speaker because nature itself is untouched and to him he felt free and could escape reality momentarily. Even when he was away from the river he would recall the scenery in order to resuscitate himself from life’s struggles which people deal with everyday. This is valid because when he was in the city and felt detached from the world memories of the river banks would provide him with passion and will to keep his head up “ While here he compares his memory of the banks that he remember for these many years with the present picture of this scene and feels captivated to be able and regain this consciousness. He was certainly amazed at first because this nesting ground of his had changed so much since he was last there, but then he realized that things don’t stay the same forever and that he has also developed into someone else over time just as mother nature would. Wordsworth also says how nature is very repetitive when he states “five years have passed; five summers, with the length of five long winter! and again i hear these waters, rolling from their mountain-springs with a soft inland murmur.” In comparison to people, I think he means that no matter how much you try to change the top layer of a person that you can’t change who they are.

The main theme of this poem is memory because he is able to paint many distinct reflections when illustrating this river, whats interesting is Wordsworth makes it seem as if he’s oblivious to this place when he states “through a long absence, have not been to me as is a landscape to a blind man’s eye”

-redion lleshi