An Analysis of Hawthorne and Akutagawa

“Young Goodman Brown” (1835) by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story criticizing the hypocrisy of Puritans of Precolonial America. The story, set in Salem, MA, depicts Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest where he discovers the moral turpitude of his fellow townsmen. “Rashōmon” (1915) by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, on the other hand, is a short story revealing the egoism of human beings. The story, set in Kyoto, Japan in the last years of the Heian Period, is about an unemployed servant who climbs up the ladder into the Rashōmon. Inside the gate, the servant meets an old woman and absconds after stealing the woman’s kimono. The works differ greatly in plot, setting, and cultural and historical background; however, when taking a formalist perspective, “Young Goodman Brown” and “Rashōmon” both evince the characteristics of Dark Romanticism while sharing similar themes, symbols, and character development.