From Hawthorne to Faulkner: the evolution of the story Nathaniel Hawthorne and William Faulkner's stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “A Rose for Emily” use a moral to support particular ideals or values. Through the examination and mutual evaluation of their characters, the author's lesson is brought out. The moral preaching style of the authors is reminiscent of Aesop's fables and the religious parables of the Old and New Testaments. After reading Hawthorne's “Young Goodman Brown,” the reader is faced with a life lesson: you cannot judge other people. A similar moral is presented in Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily.” The use of morality combined with elements of Romantic era writing show that Hawthorne and Faulkner's stories descend from both fairy tales and Romance literature. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of a young man who decides to ally himself with the Devil. Goodman Brown is a citizen of a typical town with its share of good people and not so good people. Goodman Brown thought he knew the town's inhabitants quite well. He knew that Goody Cloyse, for example, was "a very pious and exemplary lady, who had taught him the catechism in his youth, and was still his moral and spiritual counselor, together with the minister and Deacon Gookin" (598). He knew that Deacon Gookin was a strict churchman and was always “bound to some ordination or ecclesiastical council” (599). However, in his travels through the woods with the old man, Goodman Brown notices Goody Cloyse proceeding along the path. “'A wonder, indeed, that Goody Cloyse should be so far out in the wilderness at nightfall,' said [Goodman Brown]” (598). Just when he begins to doubt the woman's purity of heart, he also meets Deacon Gookin in the woods. Since they are supposedly upstanding and upstanding citizens of the village, Goodman Brown must wonder why they are traveling through the woods on the same road he is taking with the devil. Afterwards, he is amazed to see not only these two upstanding citizens at Satan's ceremony, but also almost everyone else in town. It is through his belief that his fellow citizens were good that Goodman Brown learns the most important lesson in history: namely, that one should not judge people at face value; anyone can put on airs, and his encounter with the devil's ceremony underlines... in the middle of the paper... b¾that he was not a married man” (461). Later in the story, Faulkner references Emily's possible necrophilia, although no direct statement is ever made. Homosexuality and necrophilia would in no way be topics for discussion in Hawthorne's time. As a modern writer, Faulkner had considerable freedom in what he wrote, and this freedom is reflected in his work. The tale began as fables and parables that evolved into more complex psychological studies of virtues, ideals, and values. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" emphasizes this moral as it examines the inner workings of its main character's thoughts as he encounters the devil and the townsfolk. Faulkner uses these techniques in his modern writing style as well, yet adapts them to fit the more controversial issues of his generation while maintaining a hold on the past generation he is examining. Over time, values ​​and ideals remain the same, but the way the technique is used evolves with current events and modern vocabulary. Works CitedCharters, Ann. The story and its writer: an introduction to short fiction. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995.