A strong resemblance between “Lost in the Funhouse” and “Young Goodman Brown”

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

4 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/25/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
How both stories match up in surface details of the plot
The fooling of the protagonists of both books
What Ambrose and Goodman lose
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

It is truly revealing when one can make a comparison of two completely unrelated stories and find a basic meaning and theme that is analogous to both, despite superficial characteristics. Nathaniel Hawthorne's "young goodman brown" is about a religious man, goodman brown, who embarks on a journey through a forest on an unidentified quest, while John Barth's "lost in the funhouse" is about a teenager, Ambrose, who goes on vacation with his family and ends up becoming lost in a funhouse. Although these two stories initially seem entirely disparate, there is overwhelming evidence that they are connected by the fact that both goodman brown and Ambrose initiate a crusade in which each ends with an epiphany.One can begin by examining the effect that each story has upon the reader and his thoughts. "lost in the funhouse" is the spasmodic story of a young teenager named Ambrose and his trip to Ocean City, Maryland with his family. He is with his brother Peter, his Uncle Karl, his parents, and a girl he likes, Magda. He thinks of her the whole car ride and how to court her, yet he fails. They arrive and decide to go swimming in the ocean, until they discover an oil spill has closed the beach. They instead go a swimming pool, where Peter and Uncle Karl tease Magda and then go diving off the high board. Ambrose dreams of Magda and becomes erect, which he tries to hide from her. Later, Ambrose excitedly enters the funhouse with his brother and Magda, unaware and naïve of what its true purpose is. Inside, he wants to arouse and relate to Magda, but is hindered by his insecurities and over-contemplation. Peter flirts with her and they run off, with Ambrose left behind and lost in the funhouse.