Download Stylistic Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne`s selected short Stories

Addis Ababa University
School of Graduate Studies
College of Humanities, Language Studies
Foreign Literature and Communication
Department of Foreign Language and Literature
Stylistic Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s selected short Stories
By
Hanna Seifu
December 2014
Addis Ababa
Table of Contents
Pages
Acknowledgements ................................................................................I
Abstract.................................................................................................II
Chapter One: ......................................................................................... 1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1
Background of the study ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2
Statement of the problem .................................................................................................. 1
1.3
Objectives of the study ....................................................................................................... 2
1.3.1
General objective ............................................................................................................ 2
1.3.2
Specific Objective ............................................................................................................ 3
1.4
Research questions ............................................................................................................. 3
1.5
Scope of the study .............................................................................................................. 3
1.6
Significance of the study ..................................................................................................... 4
1.7
Methodology of the study .................................................................................................. 4
1.8
Organization of the study ................................................................................................... 5
Chapter Two: ......................................................................................... 6
A Review of related literature and conceptual framework of the study ............................................ 6
1.9
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 6
1.10
A Review of Related studies ................................................................................................ 6
1.11
Theoretical Framework of the study................................................................................... 9
1.11.1
Concept of style ............................................................................................................ 10
1.11.2
Concept of stylistics ...................................................................................................... 11
1.11.3
Stylistic Analysis ............................................................................................................ 12
1.12
Definitions and concept of foregrounding ........................................................................ 15
1.12.1
Foregrounding features of stylistics study in fiction ..................................................... 16
1.12.2
Deviation ....................................................................................................................... 16
1.12.2.1
Morphological Features ............................................................................................ 17
1.12.2.2
Lexical Features ......................................................................................................... 19
1.12.2.3
Syntactic Features ..................................................................................................... 23
Chapter Three: .................................................................................... 25
A Stylistic Analysis of the selected Short Stories .............................................................................. 25
3.1
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 25
3.2
Synopsis of the stories ...................................................................................................... 25
3.3
Syntactic deviation in the selected short stories .............................................................. 28
3.4
Lexical Deviation in the selected short stories ................................................................. 30
3.5
Morphological Deviation in the selected short stories ..................................................... 31
3.6
Figurative Language in the selected short stories ............................................................ 32
3.6.1
Simile ......................................................................................................................... 32
3.6.2
Personification .......................................................................................................... 34
3.6.3
Metaphor .................................................................................................................. 35
3.6.4
Symbolism ................................................................................................................. 37
Chapter Four: ...................................................................................... 42
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 42
Bibliography .......................................................................................... 1
Acknowledgements
First and foremost I would like to thank God for his unconditional love, help and
support throughout my life. I am also indebted to my advisor, Dr. Olga Yazbec for
unreserved guidance and support.
I am indebted to all who have provided me material and valuable information and
advice. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my friends Diribu Adera,
Dereje Mulugeta and ‘Grisaw’ for encouragement throughout the course of the study
especially during the time when I almost gave up hope.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my husband Elias Girma, my sister Kidist
Seifu, my brothers Dagnachew Seifu and Yosef Seifu for their love moral and
financial support. I couldn’t have done it without their support. I would also like to
thank Aberash, my mother in law, for taking good care of my son when I couldn’t be
around. I never forget my son Philemon Elias.
I
Abstract
This thesis, as clearly stated in the title, deals with a stylistics analysis of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s selected four short stories by giving due attention to both linguistic and
literary features the author used. Focus is on foregrounding features.
By focusing on foregrounding in the selected stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, I could
demonstrate that the stories are rich stylistically. Content and form are interdependent. It is by manipulating language and literary techniques that Hawthorne
could convey social and moral meanings through the stories. Focus on
foregrounding helped me to reveal this.
The thesis has four chapters: Introduction, Review of Related Literature, Analysis
and conclusion. The first chapter is the introduction which covers the background of
the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions,
scope of the study, significance of the study, organization of the study and
methodology of the study. The second chapter presents the review of related
literature. In this part, different books and articles as well as related research works
are discussed critically to show the gap that this thesis tries to fill in.
In the third chapter, which is the analysis of the selected four short stories of
Nathaniel Hawthorne, a thorough analysis is done on the basis of stylistic features in
the stories focusing on some selected foregrounding techniques. Hence, syntactic
II
deviation, lexical deviation and morphological deviations are some of the
foregrounding features analyzed in the stories. The Fourth Chapter is the conclusion
part.
Hawthorne’s greater gift was creating scenes, persons and events that strike the
reader as being actual historical facts and are rich in symbolic import.
III
Chapter One:
Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
The short story is one of the major genres in literature. I decided to write my thesis
on foregrounding features in Hawthorne’s selected short stories. The concept of
foregrounding was developed by stylisticians in the 20th century. From the
stylisticians we learn that in analyzing style in a literary work, it is difficult to focus on
every element of style. Because of this, stylisticians demonstrated that it is possible
to analyze the style of a literary work by paying attention to noticeable foregrounded
features in a literary text. Hence, in this thesis which deals with an analysis of
Hawthorne’s selected stories, style is analyzed by giving due attention to the
foregrounded features. Stylistics as this thesis tries to show is useful for a more
systematic and more focused analysis of style in a text.
1.2 Statement of the problem
In this thesis I focus on the foregrounded features in four short stories by Nathaniel
Hawthorne, which in my opinion, can be an ideal opportunity for demonstrating how
stylistic analysis can be done in literary texts. What initiated me to write my Master’s
thesis on this topic was the course “Stylistics Analysis of Fiction”. It was this
opportunity that allowed me to see that stylistic analysis can help me to demonstrate
that one approach to the study of style is to focus on language use in a particular
text. Focus, is, therefore, on the foregrounded features of style in Hawthorne’s short
stories which he used for the intended literary effects.
Page | 1
This thesis will therefore, focus on style in selected short stories written by Nathaniel
Hawthorne. The foregrounded features in the stories are explored and the relation/
connection between the foregrounded features and the meanings suggested through
them are demonstrated.
1.3 Objectives of the study
1.3.1 General objective
Behind every study lies its objective. It is therefore, the objective of this study to
examine style by focusing on the foregrounded features of Hawthorne’s four short
stories.
The short stories are analyzed from a stylistics perspective. The study also tries to
examine why and how these stylistics features are used by the author to express the
intended message. Hence, this thesis analyzes the selected short stories from a
stylistic point of view giving due attention to noticeable features in the stories.
Therefore in doing this work I tried to identify and analyze foregrounded features in
the stories.
The aim of this thesis is to analyze style in Hawthorne’s selected short stories from
the perspective of stylistics. Focus is on one aspect of style in the selected texts:
foregrounding.
Page | 2
1.3.2 Specific Objective
To fulfill the above general objective, I decided to focus on aspects of foregrounding
Hawthorne used in the selected stories such as syntactic deviations. Lexical
deviations and morphological deviation
There are various notions of style, but this thesis focuses on the style of the selected
studies, attention, is therefore, paid to the style of the texts, not the style of the
period or any other notions of style.
1.4 Research questions
In identifying the key features and thoroughly analyzing the selected short stories,
the thesis tries to answer the following research questions:
What are the morphological, syntactic, and lexical features that recur in the
selected short stories?
How do the foregrounded features fit into the meanings of the selected short
stories?
1.5 Scope of the study
This thesis is neither an exhaustive analysis of theme, nor of style in the stories.
Foregrounded features in the stories are focused and an attempt is made to
demonstrate how they fit into the context of the stories.
Page | 3
1.6 Significance of the study
I found it very difficult to find any research work of study on Nathaniel Hawthorn’s
works in the libraries of Addis Ababa University except for one seminar essay written
on the ‘Scarlet letter’ and few Master theses on foregrounding.
This thesis, I believe, will be useful resource for students and other researchers who
might be interested in studying the other works of the author. It could also serve as a
springboard for those who want to learn how to make a stylistic analysis of a literary
text. Stylistics also trains literature students on how to systematically analyze literary
texts and reach out their meanings by focusing on dominant, recurring features in a
text.
1.7 Methodology of the study
In analyzing the selected short stories, articles are consulted in order to support the
study with a theoretical framework evolved from stylistics and its techniques. In
conducting the study various related books, online resources and research materials
are also referred to and used as source material. As a result the study is qualitative
research and is based on library work. Relevant excerpts from the stories are
analyzed based on the framework of analysis prepared in chapter three.
Therefore, the procedure or method used to analyze the selected stories is textual
analysis. However, no reference is made to the author’s biography or historical
background of the short stories. In doing this stylistic analysis, I have read the stories
thoroughly, identified the foregrounded features to find out the meanings suggested
and the literary effects created through them.
Page | 4
1.8 Organization of the study
The study consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the introduction which covers
the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study,
scope of the study, significance of the study, organization of the study and
methodology of the study. The second chapter presents the review of related
literature. In this part, different books and articles as well as related research works
are discussed critically to show the gap that this thesis tries to fill in. Related
research studies are also reviewed in this chapter to reveal that the selected short
stories have not been analyzed by other researchers. It is in chapter three of the
thesis that the four short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne are thoroughly analyzed on
the basis of foregrounded stylistic features in the stories. The fourth and final chapter
is the conclusion of the study it gives the highlights and presents the findings of the
study.
Page | 5
Chapter Two:
A Review of related literature and conceptual
framework of the study
1.9 Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to critically review research studies done on stylistic
analysis and foregrounding. As stated in the introduction part of the thesis, this study
focuses on the foregrounded features of the following four short stories of Nathaniel
Hawthorne.
1. The Minster’s Black Veil
2. The Wedding-Knell
3. Young Goodman Brown
4. The ambitious Guest
This chapter reviews studies conducted in this area and then proceeds to review of
different books and articles written in the area of Style, Stylistics, Foregrounding,
Deviation and Symbolism.
1.10 A Review of Related studies
This research, as stated previously focuses on style, in the selected stories. I was
able to find some previous studies related to style. A brief review of some of the
studies is presented in this section.
There is an MA Thesis contributed by Assefa Zeru (1996) who studied literary style
and historical meaning: A study of three Amharic Historical Novels. His study
Page | 6
consists of three chapters. In chapter one he touched upon literary devices in Mamo
Wudneh’s novel Yohannes and Alula Aba Nega. In studying this novel, his focus was
mainly on language, figures of speech and narrative techniques. In chapter two he
tried to see literary devices in Abera Jembere’s novel Aba Koster. In the third and
final chapter of his study Assefa makes a comparative study of style in the historical
novel under study.
Another related MA thesis reviewed in this thesis is written by Zirihun Asfaw (1983)
on literary styles of Haddis Alemayehu and Baalu Girma. The study is divided into
four chapters. The first chapter, which is the introduction part gives the purpose of
the study, brief view of the concept of style and limits the scope of the study. In the
second and third chapter Zerihun tried to analyze the style of Haddis Alemayehu and
Baalu Girma respectively. These chapters give a detailed description of the major
features of the styles of the two Ethiopian novelists. These are figure of speech,
syntactic patterns, sentence length and diction. The fourth chapter of the study
contains the concluding remarks.
In his research Zerihun brings to our attention that the concept of style is not only an
Aristotelian or present era phenomena. Rather style is an all-time concept though
different times have different perceptions of style (1983:3) .He explained style as:
Right from the time of Aristotle up to the present era, literary
critics have expressed their various views towards the
subject of style. To some people, style is ‘deviation’, because
the writer deviates from the normal use of the language in
which he is writing. To others, style is ‘order and movement’
that the stylist establishes in his work of art. To still others, it
is ‘depth’, which is represented by the particular expressions
Page | 7
of the writer. There are also those who contend that style
‘signifies the manner in which a man expresses himself’. To
the Aristotelians, style is to say things in the proper way so
as to persuade the audience.
Among the MA thesis found is Mesfin Adinew’s (2000) ‘Content and Style in
Ethiopian Short Fictional Narratives in English’. In Chapter one of his thesis Mesfin
included the general background and discusses the history of the English language
in Ethiopian literature published in English. In the review of related literature which is
the second chapter of his study he touched upon narrative theories, and also briefly
reviewed critical works conducted in the area of Ethiopian literature in English.
Chapter three deals with the analysis of the selected narratives both content and
style wise. The last chapter makes a comparative analysis of the stories and
summarizes the findings.
The other MA Thesis which is very much related to this research is Diribu Adera’s
(2012) ‘Stylistic Analysis of Selected Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe’. Diribu’s study
contains four chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. The second chapter is
the review of related literature done in the area and the theories that are related with
stylistics with possible illustration. The fourth and final chapter is the conclusion part.
Discussing
about
foregrounding,
after
examining
different
definitions
and
interpretations of foregrounding by different authorities Diribu is able to deduct that
“foregrounding is paying special attention to certain features of text like parallelism,
repetition, deviation and figures of speech in analyzing a particular literary work.
Page | 8
A PHD dissertation reviewed in the present study is Berhanu Matthews’ (1994)
entitled ‘English Poetry in Ethiopia: The relevance of Stylistics in EFL context’. In this
research Berhanu examines the principles and procedures of contemporary literary
stylistic theory and explores ways of using the stylistic approach in the teaching of
literature. The dissertation consists of eight chapters and is consolidated in 3
sections. Chapter one and two focus on the description and assessment of the
research problem. Chapter three and four examine the basic issues in literary
criticism and approaches to style and literature and consider their implications for
literary text analysis and literary pedagogy. Chapter five is devoted to different
exercises for demonstration purpose. Chapter six of the study shows how the
principles of stylistic analysis are suited to the teaching of literature at AAU with
particular reference to poetry. Chapter seven offers specific activities proposed to
demonstrate how the principles might be implemented in the classroom. Chapter
eight attempts to give the highlights of the discussions in the seven chapters.
Berhanu Matthews’ study has further been cited below on the framework of the
study.
1.11 Theoretical Framework of the study
This section contains a theoretical review of style, stylistic analysis, foregrounding
and other related and relevant topics as discussed by different authorities of this
area. It is this section that paves the way to the main part of the study which is the
analytical part.
Page | 9
1.11.1
Concept of style
Wikipedia defines style as: “The manner in which a writer chooses among different
strategies to address an issue to an audience.” A style reveals the writer’s
personality and it reveals syntactical structures, diction and figures of speech. Style,
according to the above definition is the dissimilarity in the language use of an
individual or author.
Leech and Short (1981:11) define style in its most general interpretation as
….the way in which language is used in a given context, by a
given person, for a given purpose….there is a scope for varying
definition and emphases. Sometimes the term has been applied
to the linguistic habits of a particular writer (‘the style of Dickens,
of proust’,etc); at other times it has been applied to the language
is used in a particular genre, period, school of writing, or some
combination of these: ‘epistolary style’, ‘early eighteenth-century
style’, ‘euphuistic style’, ‘the style of Victorian novel’ etc.
In this definition, it can be seen that style displays the habit of expression that
differentiate a writer from other writers, a genre from other genres or a literary period
from other periods.
Leech and Short (Ibid: 138) state that:
…style can be distinguished from message, can lead to a more
precise understanding of what it means for a writer to choose
this rather than that way of putting things. If we define style in
terms of stylistic variants, we assume that language specifies a
repertoire or code or possibilities, and that a writer’s style
consists in preferences exercised within the limits of that code.
From the above definition we come to understand that though style is the free choice
of a writer to write down what is on his mind in his own special way, he/she is limited
Page | 10
by what has been exercised so far or what the audience as well as the writer himself
think is right.
1.11.2
Concept of stylistics
According to Leech and Short (1981:13)” …study of style is rarely undertaken for its
own sake, simply as an exercise in describing what use is made of language. We
normally study style because we want to explain something, and in general, literary
stylistics has, implicitly or explicitly, the goal of explaining the relation between
language and artistic function.”
In addition Simpson (1997:4) believes that: “Stylistics is a method of applied
language study, which uses textual analysis to make discoveries about the structure
and functions of language.” Stylistics to Simpson is basically the use of linguistic
stylistic analysis as a means of supporting literary or interpretative details. From the
above definitions given by different scholars on stylistics, one can deduce that the
goal of stylistics is not simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own
sake, but to show their functional significance for their interpretation of the text; or to
relate literary effects or themes to linguistic triggers; where these are felt to be
relevant.
To strengthen the aim of stylistics Leech and Short (1981:13) argue that stylistics is
“the linguistic study of style”. This refers to the way language is used by a given
people and for a given purpose. The style used by an author will be highly influenced
by the people he or she is writing for. From a range of aims of stylistics as a fusion of
literary and linguistic criticism, it can be pinpointed that stylistics entails the
Page | 11
application of linguistics and literary features in the study of literary and non-literary
texts.
In summary, stylistics grew up because of the need to analyze literary and nonliterary texts linguistically considering the context of the literary text.
According to http:// www. Uni-giessen.de/anglistic/ling/staff/mukherjee/pdf/:
The concept of ‘style’ and ‘stylistic variation’ in
language rest on the general assumption that within
the language system, the same content can be
encoded
in
more
than
one
linguistic
form….Considering style as choice, there are a
multitude of stylistic factors that lead the language
user to prefer certain linguistic forms to others. These
factors can be grouped into two categories: userbound factors and factors referring to the situation
where the language is being used. User-bound
factors include, among others, the speaker’s or
writer’s age; gender; idiosyncratic preferences; and
regional and social background depend on the given
communication situation, such as medium (spoken Vs
written); participation in discourse; (monologue Vs
dialogue); attitude (level of formality)
1.11.3
Stylistic Analysis
Stylistic analysis is a deep and thorough assessment of a work of literature in
order to examine the writer’s way or technique and choice of writing style,
Leech and Short (1981:74) in further describing stylistics analysis state:
Every analysis of style, in our terms, is an attempt to
find the artistic principles underlying a writer’s choice of
language. All writers, and for that matter, all texts, have
their individual qualities. Therefore, the features which
Page | 12
recommend themselves to the attention in one text will
not necessarily be important in another text by the
same or a different author. There is no infallible
technique for selecting what is significant. We have to
make ourselves newly aware, for each text of artistic
effect of the whole, and the way linguistic details fit into
this whole.
According to the above quotation, style is viewed in relation to the
context in which it is used.
Widdowson (1975:116) on his part added
“The value of stylistic analysis is that it can provide
the means whereby the learner can relate a piece of
literary writing with his own experience of language
and so extend the experience………stylistics
occupies the middle ground between linguistic and
literary criticism and its function is to mediate between
the two. In this role, its concerns necessarily overlap
with those of the two disciplines. It is for this reason
that stylistic analysis shades imperceptibly into literary
appreciation.”
In his PHD Dissertation (1994:143) Berhanu touched upon the controversy that
might arise due to the fact that stylistic analysis is a middle ground for two
disciplines.
Whatever brings two or more disciplines together is
bound to raise some amount of controversy. Since
stylistics draws upon linguistics and literary criticism,
there has been a great deal of debate among linguists
and critics on the place and function of the subject.
Through the years, stylistics has been the concern of
both linguistic and literary theories. However, although
attempts have always been made to understand the
nature of style, neither linguistics nor literary theories
have clearly established the function and place of the
subject until recent years.
Page | 13
Widdowson (ibid: 3) explains the morphological make- up of the word stylistics
itself as follows:
….stylistics, however, involves both literary criticism
and linguistics, as its morphological make-up suggests:
the ‘style’ component relating it to the former and the
‘istics’ component to the latter….stylistics is an area of
mediation between two disciplines. How far such
mediation is necessary or desirable is, as I have said, a
question which I want to keep beyond the scope of this
present discussion. What I wish to show is that stylistics
can provide a way of mediating between two subjects:
English language and literature, leaving inexplicit
whatever implications arise as to the way it might serve
to relate the disciplines from which this subject drives
their content….Stylistics is neither a discipline not a
subject in its own right, but a means of relating
disciplines and subjects.
On the other hand Simpson (1997:3) explains that:
Stylistics is a thoroughly depersonalized activity in
which the analyst is somehow removed from the
analysis, exerting no influence or control over it….
No single ‘correct’ interpretation to the text, there
couldn’t possibly be, because any interpretation of
a piece of language is conditioned by three key
factors. The first is to do with what’s in the
language itself, the second with what’s in the
context of communication, while the third is to do
with what’s in your head (that is, the assumptions
and knowledge you bring to text).
In general Simpson believes that stylistics is a method of applied language
study, which uses textual analysis to make discoveries about the structure
and function of language. Stylistics to Simpson is basically the use of linguistic
stylistic analysis as a means of supporting literary or interpretative details.
Page | 14
1.12 Definitions and concept of foregrounding
Foregrounding is one of the many techniques that an author uses to make a
word or a phrase stand out from the surrounding words or phrases.
Foregrounding according to Leech (1968:57):
It’s a very general principle of artistic communication
that a work of art in some way deviates from norms
which we, as member of society, have learnt to
expect in the medium used and that anyone who
wishes to investigate the significance and value of a
work of art must concentrate on the element of
interest and surprise, rather than on the automatic
pattern. Such deviations from linguistic or other
socially accepted norms are labeled foregrounding,
which invokes the analogy of a figure seen against a
background.
In a linguistic sense, the term foregrounding is used to refer to new information, in
contrast to elements in the sentence which form the background against which the
new elements are to be understood by the listener/reader.
Leech (1969:57)
The foreground figure is the linguistic deviation, and
the background is the language – the system taken
for granted in any talk of ‘deviation’. Just as the eye
picks out the figure as the important and meaningful
element in its field of vision, so the reader of poetry
picks out the linguistic deviation in such a phrase as
‘a grief ago’ as the most arresting and significant part
of the message; and interprets it by measuring it
against the background of the expected pattern.
Thus, foregrounding is deviation from linguistic or
other socially accepted norms.
Page | 15
Short (1996:11) defined deviation as a linguistic phenomenon, that has an important
psychological effect on readers (and hearers). If a part of a poem is deviant, it
becomes especially noticeable, or perceptually prominent. We call this psychological
effect foregrounding.
One meaning of foregrounding is therefore the use of different literary techniques in
order to bring the act of expression into foreground so that language draws attention
to itself.
1.12.1
Foregrounding features of stylistics study in fiction
This part of this work briefly discusses the foregrounding features that are applied in
the analysis part of the thesis. Thus, this part restricts itself to the linguistic features
which, for some reason or other, attract some degree of foregrounding. To begin with
this part will try to see the meaning of deviation as it is one of the main tools of
foregrounding.
1.12.2
Deviation
Deviations occur when a writer deviates from rules, maxims, or conventions. These
may involve the language, as well as literary traditions or expectations set up by the
text itself. The result is some degree of surprise in the reader, and his/her attention is
thereby drawn to the form of the text itself (rather than to its content). It is the
departure from the general orders or norms of a given text or genre. Every language
and literature has norms, which are accepted conventionally. If these norms are
broken, then deviation occurs. Deviation has various features, like discoursal,
semantic, lexical, grammatical, and morphological deviation.
Page | 16
1.12.2.1 Morphological Features
Ranford (2004:1) reports that “morphology is the study of how words are formed out
of smaller units called morphemes.” Morphology is therefore, a level of language
analysis which deals with the internal arrangement of words and their inflection. It
seeks to analyze, describe and classify meaningful grammatical units and how these
units are organized in the process of word formation. It is the subfield of linguistics
that studies the internal structure of words and the relationship among words.
Wikipedia defines morphology as “the branch of linguistics which studies patterns of
word formation within and across languages.” The lowest unit of syntactic
construction is the word. A phrase consists of words. Thus, morphemes are the
building blocks for words. Therefore, one way of foregrounding in a text is producing
deviation at a morphological level. According to Short (1996, P52) “another way
authors make readers to contemplate the otherwise unremarked morphogical
structure of words is by playing around with word boundaries”. This can be
separating a single word like kingdom into King and Dom, which is also a
graphological deviation Short (ibid), explains, “The opposite process to separate
morphemes off as quasi-separate word is to run more than one word together as if
they were one. Although in spoken language words are not normally separated by
silences, in English language writers conventionally write as if there were gaps
between the words. This convention is not necessary but merely makes what is
written it a bit easier.”
Page | 17
Deviating from the norms and what has been accepted by the society will create
foregrounding to emphasize and to make clear what is in the mind of the writer when
he writes down a specific word.
I found it very appropriate and helpful to mention two examples for the two
morphological ways of deviation as stated above. The examples are directly taken
from Short (ibid)
Example: 1
I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon…
(Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘The Windhover’)
Here the word kingdom is broken over a line boundary
(a graphological deviation). As a result we are invited to
think harder than usual about the meaning of the two
morphemes which constitute the word ‘kingdom’. ‘king’
is obvious enough, but most twentieth –century
speakers of English will not be aware that ‘-dom’ is
historically the same morpheme as ‘doom’, meaning
‘judgment’. Foregrounding both the ‘king’ and
‘judgment’ parts of the words has special significance in
a poem where Hopkins, through his description of the
windhover, is writing a paean of praise to Christ.
Educated readers at the time Hopkins was writing were
much more aware of word-derivations than most
readers are now, and so he could assume that the
significance of his foregrounding would not go
unnoticed.
Example: 2
‘oh’, said Sheila,’of course you two haven’t met. Strange, isn’t
Page | 18
it, really? NigeledwinEdwinigel.
(Anthony Burgess, The Doctor is sick, p63)
Sheila is introducing her husband to her lover. Running
their names together in this way enables Burgess to
suggest that Sheila is speaking very fast and as a result
we can infer that she is either trying to appear
unconcerned or is trying to get the confrontation over as
soon as possible. We may even go on to infer that from
Shela’s viewpoint there is little to choose between the
two men. If we compare the inferential strategies at
work in the last two examples we can see how different
contextual factors lead us to different, textually
appropriate, interpretations of the same linguistic
phenomenon.
From the above examples we can see that by separating of running together two
different words meaning can be varied.
1.12.2.2 Lexical Features
Lexis means words. It is used as a general more technical term for vocabulary or
diction. The Oxford Dictionary defines lexis as “all the words and phrases of a
particular language”. But sometimes in order to produce a foregrounding feature in a
text, writers lexically deviate in their writing. The most obvious examples of lexical
deviation are those where a writer makes up a word which did not previously exist as
Short (1996, p45) calls it neologism. In addition, the process of converting a word
from one grammatical class to another is common in English language.
In stylistics lexical deviation refers to a new word or expression or a new meaning for
an old word used on only particular occasion. Sometimes a writer intends to reach
certain kind of rhetorical effect, so he will invent some new words based on the rules
Page | 19
of word-formation. But these new words are seldom or hardly used in ordinary
occasions. That means in literature, some invented new words are only used by the
inventor himself. Surely these nonce-formations (word invented for special purpose)
bring about certain stylistic effect and greatly improve the power of newness in
language use.
Example: 3
In Berhanu Matthews (1994: P271), we find the following poem:
There was an old man of Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket
But his daughter named Nan
Ran away with a Man
And as for the bucket, Nantucket!
Finding the word Nantucket in line five is quite surprising. One of the reasons for the
surprise is that this same word was used in the first line but with a different meaning,
that is as a name of a place. In the fifth line, on the other hand, it appears as being a
name of an individual. This word is created by combining three different words.
These are Nan-tuck-et to mean Nan, the daughter of the old man, as mentioned in
line three, took all the cash of her father. Nan took it is what is expected to be the
lexically right way of writing it.
Page | 20
Figures of Speech
Figures of speech are ways of expressing one thing in terms of another. These
include similes, metaphors, personification etc.
Similes
Simile is a comparison between two different things by using the words “like” or “as”.
Example 5
“Her eyes shine like a sun”
The above example gives the shining nature of a sun to a human eye by using the
conjunction word ‘like’ in order to reveal that the eyes are shiny and beautiful. The
sentence compares the brightness of the eye with the sun.
Metaphors
According to Fundamentals of literature by Berhanu Matthews, (82), Metaphors are
slightly different from similes in the sense that they express identity rather than
comparison. They are also different in that they do not use the words “like” or ‘as” Dr.
Berhanu cited Abrams “ in a metaphor a word which in standard (literal) usage
demotes one kind of thing quality or action is applied to another, in the form of an
identity instead of comparison.”
Example 6
“She is the sun of my life.”
In the above example the girl is given the nature of the sun. It doesn’t compare her
with the sun like in the previous example; rather it presents the character and nature
of the sun in the girl.
Page | 21
Personification
According to http://literarydevices.net/personification Personification is a figure of
speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. The nonhuman objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act
like human beings.
Example 7
“The sky weeps”
In the above example we are giving the sky the ability to feel that is a human quality.
Thus, we can say that the sky has been personified in the given sentence.
Symbolism
http://literarydevices.net/symbolism/ states that: “Symbolism is the use of symbols to
signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from
their literal sense.”
Symbols do shift their meanings depending on the context they are used in. “A
chain”, for example, may stand for “union” as well as “imprisonment”. Thus, symbolic
meanings of an object or an action are understood by when, where and how they are
used. It also depends on who reads them.
Page | 22
1.12.2.3 Syntactic Features
Syntax refers to the order of words in a sentence, phrase or clause. Radford (2004;
P.1) states that “syntax is the study of the way in which phrases and sentences are
structured out of words, and so addresses questions and what the nature of the
grammatical operations by which its component words are combined together to
form the overall sentence structure?” Syntax usually refers to the level at which the
linguist accounts for the way words are put together to form sentences, even though
words, which are primary units of syntactic analysis, are important because all
human activities involve words, the word is not the focus of syntax. Rather, it is
combination of words; word groups and sentences that syntax is concerned with. In
relation to the above sentence, syntax means sentence construction; how to infer
different sort of meaning from it. The number of grammatical rules in English
language are arranged together to make meaningful sentences. It is essentially the
grammar of a language as it specifies the rule which governs the arrangement of
words into phrases, clauses and sentences. In any language, there is a conventional
order of arranging words. When a writer changes the word order it may lead to
another interpretation of it. Most of the sentences of the passages in a short story put
in a statement form. Thus, sentences construction as one rule or given rule of a
language may help the reader to infer different meanings from it. The number of
grammatical rules in English language is large and therefore the change in any
syntactic structure of a text produces a foregrounding feature via grammatical
deviation. There are many ways in which a text can deviate from syntactical norms
such as word-order in parts of speech, subject verb inversion, basic sentence
Page | 23
patterns etc. The analysis part of this research touches upon the above listed types
of syntactic deviations where applicable.
Page | 24
Chapter Three:
A Stylistic Analysis of the selected Short Stories
3.1
Introduction
This chapter deals with a stylistic analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s selected four
Short stories.
1. The Minster’s Black Veil
2. The Wedding-Knell
3. Young Goodman Brown
4. The Ambitious Guest
In the previous chapter of this thesis, stylistic analysis has been defined as a deep
and through analysis of a work of literature in order to examine the writer’s ways or
techniques and choice of writing style by using different literary devices. It has also
been stated that the researcher attempts to analyze how morphological, syntactic
and lexical features are used by the author to foreground meanings in the stories.
3.2
Synopsis of the stories
Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil is a short story that tries to illustrate a sort of
moral or spiritual lesson. In this story, a character named Mr. Hooper receives
various negative reactions from his parishioners because of his unexpected
appearance to deliver the usual Sabbath sermon wearing a black veil, which results
in his being ostracized by his parishioners as well as dear friends.
Page | 25
In the story, Parson Hooper wears the black veil in any occasion till the moment of
his death. And the reason he wears that black veil throughout his life is to point that
everybody has a secret sin that is unknown to others. So, people should look into
themselves so as to attain a high spiritual dimension. He also wants to show by
wearing the black veil that people’s secret sins are barriers between God and
themselves; and that he is no different from the rest of the people. Reverend Mr.
Hooper suffers from melancholy and loneliness his whole life because of being
ostracized by his people for wearing the black veil.
The Wedding-Knell is the story of a most unusual marriage ceremony in which a
twice-widowed woman, vain and now elderly, enters the church to wed a man she
had once been engaged to in her youth. At the beginning of the ceremony, the
church bell begins to toll in a way it makes everyone think of a funeral, and by the
time the bridegroom arrives, he brings with him mourners and is dressed in a burial
shroud which makes every attendant think with the deed of the bridegroom.
However, finally, the bride and the bride-groom agreed to get married with the
funeral like wedding ceremony. They went home having wedded for eternity. They
come to terms after the bride groom reasons why he chooses the wedding to be
funeral like escorted by the knell which is basically supposed to be for burial
ceremony.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" begins at dusk when Young
Goodman Brown leaves Faith, his wife, for an unknown journey in the forest. In the
Page | 26
forest he meets an older man, dressed in a similar manner and bearing a physical
resemblance to himself.
Other townspeople occupy the woods that night, traveling in the same direction as
Goodman Brown. When he hears his wife's voice in the trees, he calls out but is not
answered. He then seems to fly through the forest, using a maple staff to find all the
townspeople assembled. At the ceremony carried out at a flame-lit rocky altar, the
newest converts are brought forth Goodman Brown and Faith are the only two of the
townspeople not yet initiated to the forest rite. Goodman Brown calls to heaven to
resist and instantly the scene vanishes.
Arriving back at his home in Salem the next morning, Goodman Brown is uncertain
whether the previous night's events were real or a dream, but he is deeply shaken,
and his belief that he lives in a Christian community is distorted. He loses his faith in
his wife, along with all of humanity. He lives his life being suspicious and wary of
everyone around him. "And when he had lived long, and was borne to his
grave...they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was
gloom.”
In The Ambitious Guest the characters are all unnamed; the ambitious guest is one
character. The other characters are mother, father, eldest daughter, aged
grandmother, and the younger children.
The story is about a young man who desires to be famous so that he will not die and
be forgotten by posterity. This young traveler, having this ambition in mind, stops for
Page | 27
the night with a family that lives in a “notch” next to a mountain. They make friendly
conversation, interrupted once by the sound of a wagon carrying other travelers, who
pause but do not go inside, continuing on with their journey, and then by the sound
of rock falling from the slope. This time, the father reassures the young visitor that
rock falls happen regularly without causing harm, but that the family has a “safe
place” to go in the event of a serious collapse.
The group carries on with their friendly convocation. But, suddenly, they are alarmed
by the sound of larger avalanche. They scream in fear of the slide and bolt outside
for their safe place. But they are all caught up in the rockslide and killed, while the
house is completely damaged. Their bodies are swept away and never found. The
narrator notes that some people who see the house later think there is evidence of a
visitor that night, others disagree – the young man has in fact died without leaving
any trace of his life.
3.3
Syntactic deviation in the selected short stories
Some syntactic deviations in The Minister’s Black Veil are considered. Looking at Mr.
Parson in the black veil, the sexton cries in astonishment, “But what has good
Parson Hooper got up on his face?” (P 1)
Here, what must be noted is that the sexton’s cries in astonishment. So, after the
question mark in the end of the sentence, there should be an exclamatory mark.
However, Hawthorne used only a question mark to emphasize that the minister’s
black veil has caused confusion in the mind of the sexton rather than surprise. From
Page | 28
this, it can be inferred that basic sentence construction is deviated to convey the
intended effect.
In The wedding knell, In order to keep the precision in the sentence and keep the
story as short as possible, Hawthorne uses syntactic deviation in, for example, ‘A
southern gentleman, considerably younger than herself, succeeded to her hand…”
(P 1)
In the statement above one can see the phrase “Succeeded to her hand” which
could have been constructed as “He succeeded in holding her hand,” But, the author
deviates syntactically.
Another example is found in the statement, “She struggled with Time” (P 2) in this
statement, the author uses a capital letter to begin the word ‘time’, which is at the
end of the sentence; and, therefore, must have been written in lower case letter. This
is deviating from a grammatical rule. So, it is syntactic deviation. However, the
author uses it in order to foreground that the bride’s life was full of struggle. She tried
everything not to become old and unattractive; she tried hard so as not to lose her
beauty.
Furthermore, the same deviation, for the same purpose is used in the question:
“what is Time, to the married of Eternity?”
Generally, the story, through the above deviation suggests hearts that seek for
Eternity can live united without being hindered by the dimension of time.
Page | 29
3.4
Lexical Deviation in the selected short stories
In The Minster’s Black Veil Hawthorne used the word ‘good’ (p 1) as a title for Mr.
Hooper, which refers to a thing that provokes something into action. Basically, the
word ‘good’ is used for a ‘thing’, not for a human being. But Hawthorne deviates from
the rule and used it to refer to a title for Mr. Hooper, and, he used it to foreground
that Mr. Hooper is a person who has provoked the people into having various
reactions because he is wearing the black veil. Therefore, here, the word ‘goad’ can
be categorized under lexical deviation.
When we come to The Wedding knell the author lexically deviates, as to my
observation, in two parts of the story. The first lexical deviation occurs in: “That
venerable lady chanced to be a spectator of the scene…” (p 1). In this statement, the
noun ‘chance’ is used as a verb, which is deviating from the rule through using one
form of word for another. He uses it for the purpose of keeping the statement as
compact and precise as possible.
The other lexical deviation is found in this description: “the corpse stood motionless,
but…’ (p 5) Again, in this description, lexis is deviated through giving a new meaning
to the word ‘corpse’. Here, it means a bridegroom- Mr. Ellenwood. The author uses
such lexical deviation in order to foreground Mr. Ellenwood’s appearance did not
exhibit happiness and excitement. It gave the impression of a funeral ceremony
rather than a wedding ceremony.
Page | 30
3.5
Morphological Deviation in the selected short stories
In The Minister’s Black Veil there is morphological deviation, where the verb ‘detect’
is divided into two morphemes as ‘de tect’. Here is the full statement, “The subject
had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest
and dearest and would fain conceal from our consciousness, even forgetting that the
omniscient can de tect them” (p 2). Hawthorne employed a morphological deviation,
as it can be seen, to foreground that all people have secret sins which they never
reveal to their nearest and dearest forgetting that God can see everything.
We also have morphological deviation in The Ambitious Guest in the clause: “….
When folk’s minds go a –wandering so.” (p 4) Here, the author uses the word ‘awondering’, which is a morphological deviation. He uses it in order to foreground that
the family together with the guest are entertaining the same and strange type of
thought and feeling that night, which, according to the wife is a sign of something.
The same morphological deviation is also found in the statement:” … she had
provided her grave-clothes….” (P 6) in the statement the word ‘grave-clothes’ is a
morphological deviation. Two words are used as one. The author uses it in order to
foreground the meaning he wants to convey, that is something bad is going to
happen.
Page | 31
3.6
Figurative Language in the selected short stories
3.6.1 Simile
In The minister’s Black Vail Hawthorne describes Mr. Hooper as, “gentlemanly
person, of about thirty, though still a bachelor, was dressed with due clerical
neatness, as if a careful wife had starched his band……” (p. 1).
In this description, Hawthorne used a simile”…..as if a careful wife has starched his
band……”; and he employed it in order to magnify the gentleman ship of Mr. Hooper;
that even if he is a bachelor, he takes care of himself and keeps his dressing with
due clerical neatness. Hawthorne tells us that Mr. Hooper is a bachelor, but appears
as a married man. From this phrase we observe that Hawthorn thinks that a bachelor
is not as much concerned of his appearance as a married man.
Hawthorne also used a simile in a statement –“Turning his veiled face from a group
to another, he paid due reverence to the hoary heads, salted the middle-aged with
kind dignity as their friend…..” (p 3). In this statement Hawthorne used the phrase
“as their friend””, in which he wanted to liken Mr. Hooper’s salutation to the middleaged with kind dignity of friendliness. He means that the minister addresses with a
smile. He used it in order to foreground that Mr. Hooper is a good person who pays
due respect to his people.
In The Wedding Knell, Hawthorne uses more similes than the other foregrounding
tools. For instance, there is a description of Mr. Ellen; “at sixty- five’ Mr. Ellen Wood
was shy, but not quite a secluded man; selfish, like all men who brood over their own
Page | 32
hearts” (p 1). In this description, the author likens Mr. Ellenwood to selfish men who
brood over their own hearts, which is a simile. Hawthorne uses the simile in order to
foreground the character of Mr. Ellenwood
Another simile is found on page 2, paragraph 6. it reads, “… all displayed to the best
advantage on persons suited to such finery, made the group appear more like a
bright colored picture than anything real. Here, one can see that the author likens the
group with a bright colored picture. He used it so as to foreground how decorated
were the bride and her company.
The other simile is found in such a statement, “… when another stroke of the bell
seemed to fill the church with a visible gloom, dimming and obscuring the bright
pageant, till it shone forth again as from a mist” (p 3). In the statement, the author
likens the other stroke of the bell with a vision in the mist. He intends to foreground
the gloomy atmosphere the stroke of the bell created in the wedding ceremony.
The other use of simile is observed in this statement: “As she spoke, a dark
procession paced in to the church. First come an old man and woman, like chief
mourners at a funeral, attired from head to foot in deepest black…( p 4)”
In the statement, the old woman and man, who are the company of the bridegroom,
are likened with chief mourners. The author uses the simile for the sake of
foregrounding how shocked the bride was at their unexpected appearance in the
wedding ceremony.
Page | 33
Finally, we find a simile in the description of the bridegroom’s utterance “‘cruel’
repeated he, then, losing his deathlike composure in a wild bitterness…” (p 5). In
this description, Hawthorne likens Mr. Ellen wood’s composure with death. He uses
the simile in order to foreground that the upcoming utterance of the bridegroom is
pitiful. This simile also reveals his pessimism.
Finally in The ambitious guest a smile is also observed in the clause: “… sound
abroad in the night, rising like the roar of a blast…..” (p 6)
In the example, the author likens ‘the sound abroad in the night’ with ‘the roar of the
blast’. This is used to show how dreadful the sound abroad in the night is.
3.6.2 Personification
When we see personification in The Minister’s Black Veil there is a statement “… it
threw its obscurity between him and the holy page…”.(p 2). In the statement ‘it’
refers to the “black veil” which is endowed with the quality of throwing obscurity
between Mr. Hooper and the holy page. Therefore, it is a personification. Hawthorne
personified the black veil in order to foreground that it is a barrier between oneself
and the Holy Scriptures.
The story continues and takes us to Elizabeth who is the only nearest friend, and Mr.
Hooper’s last day contradiction in which, one of the dialogues contains a
personification. Elizabeth says “your words are a mystery, too, returned the young
lady. ‘Take away the veil from them, at least.” (p 6)
Page | 34
Again, in The Ambitious Guest one example of personification is found in the
following quotation, “up the chimney roared the fire and brightened the room with its
broad blaze …..” (p 1) In this statement, the author presents the fire as an animated
being that can have a roaring sound, which is an example of personification. He uses
it in order to foreground the brightness of the light from the fire.
The other example is in the following sentence: “…. When the wind came through
the Notch and seemed to pause before their cottage – rattling the door, with a sound
of wailing and lamentation…” (p 1)
In this description, Hawthorne endows the wind with the quality of a human attribute
in that; it produces the sounds of caviling and lamentation. The author uses it in
order to foreground how scary and dreadful it is.
The other instance of personification is found in the statement: “the old mountain has
thrown a stone at us, for fear we should forget him.” (p 2)
In this statement the author personifies the old mountain. It is presented as a human
being that can intentionally throw stones in order not to be forgotten. The author
uses it in order to foreground how repeatedly the family suffered from rockslides.
3.6.3 Metaphor
We can also see a metaphor in The Minister’s Black Veil on the utterance of Mr.
Hooper’s parishioner “He has changed himself into something awful…..” (P 2)
Page | 35
Here, we can see that the parishioner calls Mr. Hooper an awful person, which is a
metaphor. Hawthorne used this metaphorical sentence to stress the fact that Mr.
Hooper’s parishioner is reacting negatively against the black veil.
In conclusion, in ‘the Minister’s Black Veil’, Hawthorne employed various figures of
speech, morphological and lexical deviations to foreground the meaning he wanted
to convey to readers. Most of the sentences and phrases are parallel, and somehow
syntactically deviated for the purpose of foregrounding meanings.
In The wedding knell, the researcher tries to analyze two examples. Here is the first
description: “… the bridal party came through the church door with the sudden and
gladsome effect of a burst of sunshine (P 2). In the description, the author denotes
the quality of a sudden and gladsome effect of burst of sunshine at the coming of the
bridal party to the church. He uses it to foreground, how it was looked forward by the
wedding attendants and the bride.
The other example of metaphor is in this exclamation of the author: “How strange
that gushes of human feeling from the frozen bosom of a corpse!” (P. 6)
In this exclamatory sentence, Mr. Ellenwood is identified as a corpse, which is a
metaphor. The author uses it to foreground how unworldly is Mr. Ellenwood, is that
his life cannot be called life at all as a result of despair. An emotion of happiness is
not on his face.
Page | 36
3.6.4 Symbolism
The minister’s Black Veil contains some metaphor like in the description, Hawthorne
used the sentence “Mr. Hooper had the reputation of a good preacher, but not an
energetic one; he strove to win his people heavenward by mild, persuasive
influences, rather than to drive them thither by the thunders of the Word” (p 2). In
the sentence the noun ‘thunder’ that has dreadful sound symbolizes that God’s word
has great power on those who hear it. Hawthorn employed it in order to foreground
how Mr. Hooper preaches his people softly and persuasively, rather than scaring
them with powerful words.
A symbol is also observed in Mr. Hooper’s reply to Elizabeth-“if I hide my face for
sorrow, there is cause enough;” he merely replied;” and if I cover it for secret sin,
what mortal might not do the same?” (p 7)
In Mr. Hooper’s reply, the question “what mortal might not do the same?” symbolizes
that everybody, who is destined to die, wears a black veil in their mind which covers
their secret sin from being revealed. Hawthorne employed it in order to foreground
that Mr. Hooper firmly believes in the appropriateness of his wearing of the black
veil.
The veil can be a symbol of the ways and practices through which people mislead
others by the sins they have committed while completely and truly facing
themselves. It could represent the secret sins that all people carry in their hearts, or
Page | 37
it could be a representation of Mr. Hooper's sins. The veil is used as a daily reminder
of people's sins, undeniable truths, guilt, and secrets that they are unwilling to admit
The Ambitious Guest, when we see the story in general, is symbolic revealing that
however ambitious people may be, their destiny is uncertain and they might lose
their life in a sudden moment.
Symbolism is one of the dominant literary devices that are used by Hawthorne in
Young Goodman Brown. Basically, Hawthorne uses the background of witchcraft to
explore uncertainties of belief that trouble a man’s heart and mind. Therefore,
Goodman Brown’s journey to the forest symbolically stands for both a physical and a
psychological journey, which is an exploration of the mind. It can be said that the
whole story symbolizes what is supposed to take place in the human mentality. It is
symbolic of man’s inward journey into his morality.
Hawthorne describes “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest
trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through,
and closed immediately behind.”(p 1)
From the above sentence we can infer that Brown’s journey through the forest is on
a narrow, dark, and dull path. The darkness and dreariness symbolize the evil that
hides in the forest. The narrowness of the path symbolizes that Brown is surrounded
by evil and can hardly escape it. The idea that Brown may never return to the state
of innocence from which he came is suggested by the fact that the woods seem to
close immediately behind him. The trail being long and windy symbolizes how far
Page | 38
Brown’s consciousness must travel from innocence to realize the evil in his world.
The bareness of the trees seems to symbolize the absence of life and God's grace.
When Goodman Brown reaches the meeting with everyone he has known being
there, the coniferous trees are on fire. A symbol of eternity and green showing the
grace of God, the fire represents the co-existence that evil and life share without the
light of God, as the trees return to what they once were when daylight shines and
Goodman Brown awakes.
One of the most obvious styles that stand out about Hawthorne's works is his choice
of character naming; he successfully creates names that has something to do or that
has some meaning about the character. Some uses of this type of symbolization can
be found with the main characters Goodman Brown. Here, the word "Goodman" is
symbolic of his nature, and suggests another meaning about his ethics. Another
example is the wife "Faith", who is known for her great innocence and trust in
Goodman Brown until he begins to doubt her. It is no coincidence that the wife faces
a problem of faith to her husband later on. Thus, the name itself symbolizes that
something related to ‘Faith’ is going to happen. Throughout the story, this type of
symbolism is repeated constantly with phrases such as "Faith kept me back a while"
P.2) and “My Faith is gone!" (p. 6) which strongly suggests an alternate meaning to
the story.
Using the colors of evil, red, and the colors of purity, white, faith is born. With her
pink ribbons, Faith is a mixture of the evil of man and the purity of man combined.
Hawthorne uses pink as a symbol four times in the story, imbuing her character with
Page | 39
youthfulness and happiness. The pink ribbon that Faith puts in her cap symbolizes
her purity. The color pink is associated with innocence and gaiety, and ribbons
themselves are a modest, innocent decoration. In addition, in the Bible red
represents sin while white signifies purity. Thus, this symbol represents the blend of
purity and sin. Hawthorne describes "Faith, with pink ribbons" (p 1) inferring that
Faith takes on this blend of purity and sin. Finally, Goodman Brown exclaims to
Faith, "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!" (P.9) This sentence shows
that he never completely loses his faith. Hawthorne reintroduces the ribbons when
Goodman Brown is in the forest, struggling with his doubts about the goodness of
the people he knows. When the pink ribbon flutters down from the sky, Goodman
Brown perceives it as a sign that Faith has definitely fallen into the kingdom of the
devil. She has shed this sign of her purity and innocence. At the end of the story,
when Faith greets Goodman Brown as he returns from the forest, she was wearing
her pink ribbons again, suggesting her return to the figure of innocence.
The devil’s staff, which is encircled by a carved serpent, draws from the biblical
symbol of the serpent as an evil demon. In the Book of Genesis, the serpent tempts
Eve to taste the fruit from the forbidden tree; against God’s will and bringing his
anger upon humanity. When the devil tells Goodman Brown to use the staff to travel
faster, Goodman Brown takes him up on the offer and, like Eve, is ultimately
condemned for his weakness by losing his innocence. Besides representing Eve’s
temptation, the serpent represents her curiosity, which leads her into that temptation.
Goodman Brown’s decision to come into the forest is motivated by curiosity, as was
Eve’s decision to eat the forbidden fruit. The staff makes clear that the old man is
Page | 40
more demon than human and that Goodman Brown, when he takes the staff for
himself, is on the path toward evil as well.
In the story, even though Goodman claims the walk to the forest into where Satan
lures him to be too far, as Hawthorne puts it “He still unconsciously resumes walking“
(P 2). This statement symbolizes the prime constituent of unconscious mental
process concept in that Goodman’s desire to experience the evil becomes
unconscious so that he simply listens to his instinctual fulfillment without being aware
of consequence as an outcome.
Hawthorne uses such a symbolic statement because he wants to foreground that the
character Goodman Brown’s mind is full of moral restrictions of the Christian religion.
Page | 41
Chapter Four:
Conclusion
This chapter gives highlights on what has been explained and explored so far. Style
is a wide concept that comprises different views among which - it is a unique way of
expression used by a writer. The analysis of style involves the exploration of the
writers’ choice of words, figures of speech and language use. This thesis has,
therefore, focused on identifying and analyzing the above devices and it has tried to
establish the functions of style in the short stories studied.
Hawthorne's works belong to Dark Romanticism. His short storiesadvocate that guilt,
sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity. Many of his works
are inspired by Puritan New England consisting of historical romance loaded with
symbolism and deep psychological themes. His depictions of the past are a version
of historical fiction used only as a vehicle to express common themes of ancestral
sin, guilt and retribution.
All the short stories chosen are rich in many types of foregrounding features.
Specifically Symbolism is one of the dominant and wisely used literary device that is
used by Hawthorne. When we read Young Good Man Brown, we can see that even
the names of the characters are symbolic and have something to do in the story. We
can mention the main character Good Man and his wife Faith whose names
symbolizes their character traits and the role they are going to play in the stories.
As a romantic writer, more specifically dark romanticism, Hawthorne’s stories are
known to contain one or two weird characters. We can mention the Minister- in “The
Minister’s Black Veil” the Young Good Man Brown in “Young Goodman Brown”.
These characters usually are complex and have a different view and perspective of
the world we are living in.
Page | 42
Efforts have been to make the study focus on the broadly used features of
foregrounding. Lexical, syntactical and morphological features are among the
analyzed features.
This study is only a small attempt to analyze some foregrounding features used by
the writer. It is the recommendation of the researcher that other researchers may
carry out further research in foregrounding. A study on foregrounding can help us
discover the literary qualities of Hawthorne’s works.
Page | 43
Bibliography
Andrew Radford (2004). Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the structure of English. United
Kingdom: at the university press, Cambridge
Assefa, Zeru (1996). Style and Historical Meaning of Three Amharic Historical
Novels (unpublished MA thesis). Addis Ababa: AAU.
Berhanu, Matthews PhD (1994). English Poetry in Ethiopia: The Relevance of
Stylistics in EFL context (unpublished PhD Dissertation). Addis Ababa: AAU.
___________ (2009, 2nd Edition). Fundamentals of Literature. Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Dirubu, Adera (212). Stylistic Analysis of Selected Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe
(unpublished MA thesis). Addis Ababa: AAU.
http:// literarydevices.net/personification
http:// literarydevices.net/symbolism
http:// www. Uni-giessen.de/anglistic/ling/staff/mukherjee/pdf/:
Leech, G. and Short, M.H.(1981). Style in Fiction. London: Long man Group Ltd.
Leech, G.N. (1969). A linguistic Guide to English poetry. London and New York:
Long man Group Ltd.
Mesfin, Adnew (2000). Style in Ethiopian Short Fictional Narratives in English
(unpublished MA thesis). Addis Ababa: AAU.
Mick Short (1996). Exploring the language of poems, plays and prose. London:
Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Minster’s Black Veil
: The Wedding-Knell
: Young Goodman Brown
: The Ambitious Guest
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995). 1948 -1995. Oxford University Press.
Paul Simpson (1997). Language through literature. London and New York:
Routledge publishers.
Widdowson, H.G. (1975). Stylistics and the teaching of English. London: Longman
Group Ltd.
Zerihun, Asfaw (1983). The Literary Style of Haddis Alemayehu and Baalu Ferma
(unpublished MA thesis). Addis Ababa: AAU.
Declaration
I the under signed, declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been
presented for a degree in any other university, and that all source of materials used
for the thesis have been duly acknowledged.
Name Hanna Seifu
Signature ______________
Place Addis Ababa University
Date of Submission ______________________
The thesis has been for examination with my approval as a university advisor
Olga Yazbec PhD
Signature _______________
Place: Addis Ababa University
Date of Submission _______________