I chose to compare Rip Van Winkle’s wife and Jacqueline, or La Folle. Both of these female characters are polar opposites. Irving doesn’t give Rip’s wife a thorough introduction to her character. All we know is that she is always yelling at Rip on what to do and what he’s doing wrong. In Chopin’s story of Beyond the Bayou, La Folle is given to us in details from what she looks like and how she gotten her nickname. La Folle has more power to change the story the in whatever way she would have wanted, and she also conquered her fear of crossing the bayou. In Rip Van Winkle, Rip’s wife never had the chance to say much throughout the story, so she couldn’t have much influence on how the ending would end.

When it comes to both the stories Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky by Stephen Crane they both share a similar yet different way of depicting the social dynamic of a small town. When it comes to the story Rip Van Winkle the people of the town do fit the way that people would normally think a small town would be. In the reading everyone knows each other and especially know who is Rip Van Winkle. Rip was known as the man that “would never even refuse to assist a neighbor”. When you think of small town peoples you think that everyone helps one another and is a peaceful town. So Irving took the more classic road when it came to describing the way the people of the town were. Especially with Rip.

When it came to The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky, Crane went in a different direction. He did not make the people of the town be as friendly with each other than how Irving did. In the story the drummer cried out “Scratchy Wilson’s drunk and has turned loose with both hands” meaning the old man that was in a gang once was so drunk that he is out and about to firing his revolver around town. Now when it came to this specific part of the story the towns people explained to the drummer that this was a normal thing that would happen in their small town and that when it did they would just close the door and lock themselves in because they knew that Wilson was a dangerous man when he was drunk. Now the drummer although he was scared that Wilson was outside drunk with his revolvers he saw that the people were not scared at all. When It comes to a small towns, people don’t normally think that gun fights would be a regular thing to happen. So in the end Crane did not go for a typical depiction of a small town.

I think that the only similarities that both stories do share would be that both people of the town counted on someone to help them. In the story Rip Van Winkle the people of the town would count on Rip to help them with anything that they needed help with. And the people in the small town the story The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky would normally count on Jack Potter to help them when it came to Scratchy Wilson.

“The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane gives us a depiction of the social dynamic of a small town which can be compared to the small town from “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. To first understand the social dynamic, one needs to understand the story and who Jack Potter is. Jack Potter is the town marshal of Yellow Sky which is a little town that is in Texas. Being the town marshal, Jack Potter is a person who people look up to because he is an authority figure and also as someone who deals with the town’s conflicts that arise. Jack Potter is a newlywed who is bringing his wife along home and feels like a traitor to his own town because he got married without the affirmation of the town. Jack Potter feels like he had “committed an extraordinary crime” (29) in his own words which show that this isn’t a crime that happens every day and will leave a strong impression on the town. At this point, it is well understood since Jack Potter is an authority figure who is even feared at times still owes the town to be completely honestly and is comparable to religious figures who also hold an authoritarian figure in Nathaniel Hawthorne work. The main difference in how each author depict the social dynamic in their own story deals is how the characters are involved in the story. In Stephen Crane’s story, he is able to provide a typical day in the west due to involving the drummer whose unfamiliarity with Scratch Wilson, the town drunk who arms two revolvers which causes the reaction of the Mexican men to leave right away. The other men that are left are also familiar with the situation and are irritated with the drummer due to him asking questions. To the reader, based on the reaction of the people in the town, we are able to understand that this is a common occurrence that occurs and a certain routine will be taken to ensure their safety. Hawthorne uses religion and what it stands for to describe the small town actions and behavior. Crane uses a conflict to give insight while Hawthorne uses consequences of religion to drive home the point of loss of faith through deconstructing the people in the town and how they go on their day after they are exposed.

Hawthorne uses references of “evil” to help create a visual aid for readers within the climax of the story, when Goodman maddened with despair deep within the forest, to set the setting and mood of the story. Hawthorne described the forest to be “peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of Indians; while sometimes the wind tolled like a distant church-bell giving a broad roar around the traveler.” His description of the forest gave us a better understanding of the scenario Goodman is in. Goodman in a way was hurting himself by running further into the forest. Originally Goodman kept his faith, he was determined that the devil had no chance of turning him. However he began losing himself when the voices began taunting him. Out of desperation he looked up to the sky, doubting whether there really was a heaven above him. At this point Goodman lost sight to what was real or not. The evil within the forest finally managed to crack Goodman, and at any point he can completely give in and lose himself.

This sort of reminds me of McCandless death from “Into the Wild”. Not necessary for evil with supernatural events, but more about the evil and dangers of ones environment when desperate measures are taken. McCandless similar to Goodman, was put in a scenario were he questioned his ability to survive and his faith of a greater power. Because McCandless was starving, he was forced to eat wild berries that later turned out to be poisonous. However if he had waited just a couple more days with proper conservation of his supplies, McCandless might have survived. This reminds me of Goodman because, Goodman is at a point in the story were any decisions he makes might mean freedom from the devil or completely for fitting to evil. Goodman needs to push himself forward and maintain his faith even if it may seem as if he has ran out of corners to turn or places to hide.

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents us with the struggle against, and eventual relenting of a “good Christian” to evil. The author takes an interesting approach to the word “evil” not only figuratively but it is also used like an indication to the reader that this is where the rising action begins.  Our first encounter is when Goodman Brown mentions his “evil purpose,” which is immediately followed by a description of his surroundings; “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest…” with just one sentenced the author turned our setting from a quiet village to a dark and mysterious one. It builds suspense because it gives the reader a feeling that anything can happen. Along that path the protagonist is continually tested, that action is rising and so is our suspense, Brown seems to know what he is heading towards but is hesitant to move forwards, yet the reader is still clueless as to where this story is heading. Then we reach something akin to a minor climax, “My Faith is gone!” here, Brown, refers to his wife named Faith, an interesting choice of naming, because it can also be interpreted as Brown losing his faith in God.

Then we have our second mention of the word evil, again followed by another depressing description of the woods, “The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds… as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn.” Again more mystery and building of suspense followed by more rising action, him seeming to “fly” through the forest, again hesitant when he reaches his goal, again leaving the reader to wonder if Goodman Brown will resist the evil. This brings us to the actual climax in the story, “Faith! Faith! … Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!”  But we never get a clear explanation of what this evil is, but we still understand that it certainly is some incredible evil that Goodman Brown is dealing with; it is the lack of explanations that makes this evil so powerful that it affected Goodman Brown to the end of his days.

This unexplainable but powerful evil reminds me of the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare specifically Iago, a character that does incredibly evil things but we can never tell why. He seems to be evil for evils sake, but as readers there are no doubt that he is evil, just like we do not see anything explicitly evil about the congregation but we understand that it is.