Krommenhoek 1

Drew Krommenhoek
English 11
Oberg
20 November 2014
Rhetorical Devices
There are so many ways someone can communicate their ideas. Authors use a good amount of
things to help paint the big picture that they are trying to get across in their works. One of these ways of
communicating is rhetorical devices. By definition a rhetorical device is a use of language that is
supposed to have an effect on the audience. This is true for Nathaniel Hawthorne's story Young
Goodman Brown. In this story Hawthorne used foreshadowing and allusion to help deepen and help
describe the series of events in his short story creating a story with a greater meaning and detail that get
the reader interested in the series of events to come.
Foreshadowing is used quite a bit in Hawthorne's story to drop very subtle hints that may go
unnoticed but surely help the story develop. Foreshadowing isn't normally a rhetorical device that
would be thought to give very much development in this story at first but Hawthorne does a good job
of easing it in to the story to help draw out the plot. Most of the foreshadowing in this story is used by
the characters Faith, and of course Young Goodman Brown to hint at the story's direction. In the
beginning of this story Hawthorne gives some foreshadowing when Faith says, A lone woman is
troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afraid of herself sometimes. Pray tarry with me
this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year (1). In this simple moment Hawthorne tells the
audience that there not only is something going to happen on the night that this story takes place but
that she will also have something to do with it. It goes fairly unnoticed but when it is understood as
foreshadowing it adds a sense of suspense to the reader. This suspense helps keep the reader hooked,

Krommenhoek 2
and makes them think about what may be waiting to happen. Although this example is a pretty dramatic
example Hawthorne still uses foreshadowing to get his story further developed. Later when Young
Goodman Brown sees people from his faith speaking with either each other or to the devil Hawthorne
uses foreshadowing again: For they tell me there is a nice young man to be taken into communion tonight (4) Moreover, there is a goodly young woman to be taken into communion (5). These are both
two separate instances of foreshadowing that are serving the same purpose. Not only is it helping bring
suspense like earlier but it is also telling the reader that not only will Faith have something to do with
the communion but also another young man. These instances of foreshadowing are a bit more obvious
and if put together would help the reader think about what may end up happening in the ending. Both
the suspense and the thought that comes with foreshadowing help the story develop further and get the
readers interest.
Allusion is another rhetorical device used in this story. It, like foreshadowing, is meant to
develop the story further but it is also used to deepen the story's meaning. Most of the allusion in
Young Goodman Brown is used to reference christian stories or ordinances. An early case of allusion
comes when Goodman Brown and the devil first meet to speak. Goodman brown tries to describe the
man as they walk But the only thing about him that could be fixed upon as remarkable was his staff,
which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought have been an ocular deception,
assisted by the uncertain light (2). In the christian belief Adam and Eve were tempted by a snake in the
garden of Eden to partake of the tree of knowledge. This snake was Lucifer who was trying to deceive
them. That is what this allusion is referring to. The passage helps the reader understand that the man
that Goodman Brown is speaking with is indeed the devil. This in turn deepens the story and the
meaning that Hawthorne is trying to help the reader understand. He uses allusion again further in the
story when communion had already started. In this part it is the devil who states, By the sympathy of
your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places (8). The devil is saying that humans are born

Krommenhoek 3
with sin already in their hearts. In the christian religion it is a belief that we are already born with sin
because of Adam in the garden of Eden. Allusion is used again not too long afterwards when the devil
speaks to the people in the communion; in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad with its despairing
awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race (8). The devil is
believed to also have been an angel at one point before being cast out of heaven to become the devil.
This small instance of allusion tells us that the person in charge at this communion and who had walked
with Goodman Brown in the forest was Lucifer. These last two examples help deepen the story enough
so the reader can understand the story completely without having to refer directly to the christian
stories in the bible. Hawthorne also used allusion to give a meaning to his story that showed his dislike
of hypocrisy by showing that even those who look holy and are dressed up as saints are just as evil as
those who arent.
All in all these are only two rhetorical devices that Hawthorne used in his short story. He used
multiple others but these two helped develop the story a bit more and deepen the meaning in the long
run. He effectively uses them to not only hook the reader but to bring in christian stories without
deterring from the story he is trying to write.