If the story is an allegory, summarize the symbolical drama enacted in it

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Some students may not have encountered the term allegory before, but others will probably know it already. Not only Faith can be seen as a figure of allegory, but Young Goodman Brown himself—the Puritan Everyman, subject to the temptation to find evil everywhere. For a class that has already begun symbol-hunting, “Young Goodman Brown” is a fair field. Among the more richly suggestive items are the devil’s snaky staff or walking-stick (par. 13), with its suggestions of the Eden snake and the serpentine rods of the Egyptian magicians (Exodus 7:8–12). When the devil laughs, it squirms happily (par. 22). It works like seven-league boots, and its holder enjoys rapid transportation. The devil gives it to Goody Cloyse and then plucks Brown a fresh stick from a maple (par. 38–41); when Brown grasps it in despair (par. 51), it speeds him on to the unholy communion. Other symbolic items (and actions) include the forest—to enter it is to be led into temptation, and Brown keeps going deeper and deeper—the withering of the maple branch at the devil’s touch