Freedom versus commitment in Goodman Brown and Elisa Allen

¶ … Goodman Brown of Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" and Elisa Allen of Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" struggle silently as they question major life choices. Elisa comes to terms with her longing for freedom, symbolized in John Steinbeck's short story by the pot-mender who passes through town. Her work consists of planting roots and tending to flowers: tasks that require stability, commitment and what Elisa refers to as planting hands. Her weeping at the end of the story shows that Elisa longs for a less fettered life, almost wishing she had not rooted herself in one place. Yet the joy she feels when working with the chrysanthemums shows that Elisa's choice is ultimately a sound one: the idea of living nomadically may be more appealing than the act itelf.

Goodman Brown's internal struggle is between Puritanical ideals and an undefined, nebulous wickedness symbolized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story by the devil in the woods. Like Elisa Allen, Brown remains committed to social conventions like marriage and yet on some level feels a primordial pull toward an animalistic freedom. Both Elisa Allen and Goodman Brown suggest that sexual tension might be at the root of their conflict.