The Responsibility of the Individual in Nature and Society

The Responsibility of the Individual in Nature and Society

Coherently, society is marred by both good and evil and these prospects are responsible for shaping what the society has transgressed into becoming. The two authors in this case Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau have intriguing insights on life with regards to the responsibility that man has to his surrounding as well as the people they get involved with in their daily lives. The underlying chapters will reflect on the former’s literature piece titled, “Young Goodman Brown” and the latter’s, “Civil Disobedience” to inference on the responsibility of humans to society. To be reflected upon this case is the plot of the story of each author and build on the same to deliberate on different actions taken by people when they are in different situations. The titles talk a parallel story as to what it actually states and as opposed to a merry story, we are introduced to a dark story deep in the forest. What is dealt with in the story is a mix of the past life of an individual coupled with individual expectations of what society needs to look like. Thoreau’s story on the other hand is built on the prefixes of what is happening in society and he tells his story through a rebellious tryst that gets the main character of the story behind bars.

In Young Goodman Brown, the main character leaves a wife who is troubled by her own thoughts, his response paints Goodman as a good individual who believes in God for he suggests to the wife to go back to sleep for he is obligated to take this trip. On broader perspective, his sentiments to the wife to be prayerful are ironical considering that the trip he is taking is meant to serve an evil purpose (Hawthorne 4). The whole experience of him walking through the forest is gorrish and the surrounding reads like a script from a horror movie until he meets an intimidating man who resembles his looks but is much older. The man hands him a walking stick that is crafted in the shape of a serpent but Goodman Brown is reluctant to take the stuff with thoughts of good and evil battling in his mind. He sees his actions as being wrong and the urge and need to perform that which is good strikes him and he considers his familial background of Christianity as a stance for being unwillingness to be associated with the mysterious man. Through the journey, Goodman gets to meet a respected woman in society known as Goody Cloyse and to his surprise upon conversation with the devil, Cloyse reveals she is actually a witch and is on her way to take part in the devil’s ceremony in the evil forest (Hawthorne).

Goodman demonstrates some sort of reluctance going forward since the urge to perform well is overwhelming but the devil manages to convince him to hold onto the staff in the event he changes his mind, it could help him get to the ceremony. He is surprised that those who are highly held with decorum

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