Laughter in Hawthorne Anonymous College

Within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” and “Young Goodman Brown,” the presence of laughter is used repeatedly across both narratives, often for dramatic effect, showcasing the act’s many facets and qualities. Most typically, laughter is associated with cheer or general happiness. It is an outwards expression of internal feeling, which usually establishes itself through audible and visible demonstration. In Hawthorne’s case, this notion is challenged and further diversified, as numerous characters in both stories laugh for a multitude of reasons. Across Hawthorne’s two tales, laughter serves as a representation and indication of community and belonging, mischief and rebellion, unease and agitation, as well as mockery and humiliation. As a result of such varying implications, the protagonists of “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”—the shrewd, young Robin—and “Young Goodman Brown”—the titular Goodman Brown—are both guided and left confused by the action, thereby creating a distinctive power structure and separation of roles among the stories’ many characters.

Throughout “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” and prior to its climax, much of the story is devoted to illustrating the naive Robin’s struggles to locate...