"Nathaniel Hawthorne's work is typically fraught with symbolism, much of it deriving from his Puritan ancestry; a great-great uncle was actually a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials" (Roth 76). Not surprisingly, Hawthorne was obsessed with the twin themes of sin and guilt. Author John Roth notes that "A number of recurring thematic patterns and character types appear in Hawthorne's novels and tales. These repetitions show Hawthorne's emphasis on the effects of events on the human …showed first 75 words of 1731 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1731 total…Ed. A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1966. 89-94. Leavis, Q.D. "Hawthorne as Poet." Hawthorne: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1966. 36-39. Levy, Leo B. "Young Goodman Brown." Modern Critical Views: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York, Philadelphia: Chelsea House P, 1986. 110-122. Martin, Terence. "Young Goodman Brown." Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1st Ed. New York: Twayne P, 1965. 90-99. Roth, John K. American Diversity, American Identity. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1995.