The Color Pink
"'Then God bless you!' said Faith, with the pink ribbons, 'and may you find all well when you come back.' ...So they parted; and the young man pursued his way, until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back, and saw the head of Faith still peeping after his, with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons." (emphasis added)
The color pink represents a special blend of the innocence associated with white and the passion/anger/love associated with red, and the color brown represents simplicity and honesty. Faith's last name would have been Brown (since although Goodman isn't the actual name of her husband, Brown is his last name), so her name is truly "Faith Honesty." Add that with the connotations of the color of her ribbons, and you see the battle Goodman is fighting. While he is walking with the devil, he struggles to keep sight of his Faith and her innocence. He even justifies his actions by saying: "after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven."
The ending always gets me: Goodman Brown isn't sure whether he dreamed it all or if he actually saw them there. It changes his opinions of how he sees those around him--even Faith although outwardly nothing has changed with her (even down to her pink ribbons). Although he is ridiculously suspicious and judgemental of those around him, he seems to overlook that he was there regardless of whether or not they were. He is judging them for something he has no right to be. I feel like this is how we can be when it comes to sin. We are quick to point out the speck of dust without first removing the spike.
I commented on Abigail and Trey's posts.
The color pink represents a special blend of the innocence associated with white and the passion/anger/love associated with red, and the color brown represents simplicity and honesty. Faith's last name would have been Brown (since although Goodman isn't the actual name of her husband, Brown is his last name), so her name is truly "Faith Honesty." Add that with the connotations of the color of her ribbons, and you see the battle Goodman is fighting. While he is walking with the devil, he struggles to keep sight of his Faith and her innocence. He even justifies his actions by saying: "after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven."
The ending always gets me: Goodman Brown isn't sure whether he dreamed it all or if he actually saw them there. It changes his opinions of how he sees those around him--even Faith although outwardly nothing has changed with her (even down to her pink ribbons). Although he is ridiculously suspicious and judgemental of those around him, he seems to overlook that he was there regardless of whether or not they were. He is judging them for something he has no right to be. I feel like this is how we can be when it comes to sin. We are quick to point out the speck of dust without first removing the spike.
I commented on Abigail and Trey's posts.
That was one of the first things I noticed about the story, the pink ribbons. It gives a picture of innocence to his wife. I found it interesting that she doesn't have her pink ribbons in the meeting, but is wearing them when Brown comes home. Does this mean she is innocent and the whole thing was a dream? Or was it real and is she faking it? It's a mystery.
ReplyDeleteO my goodness I didn't even think about the colors!!!! It's like the more you think about it, the more you see. This is why I like Hawthorne's work. If I'm not mistaken he does something similar in the Scarlet Letter.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even consider the idea behind how we blame others but not ourselves. That's exactly what Goodman Brown was doing too. It's easier to look at a situation that's bad when you can remove yourself from the action.
ReplyDeleteWOW... First of all, I hadn't thought of the ribbons in that sense. Then you go and point out the symbolism of Faith's character! How did I not see that????? I'm so oblivious sometimes! This is great!!
ReplyDelete