Formalist Approach to Young Goodman Brown The formalist approach can be found in "Young Goodman Brown", a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The formalist approach is one of the most frequently used approaches. It focuses on the concepts of form, tension, image and symbol; as well as point of view, irony and paradox. These styles appear throughout the story. Form in the past meant what is now known as external form, the way in which the work is identified. This type of form is usually associated with poetry. The organic form is important to critics. “The emphasis on organicism is not only in literary forms but in a broader philosophical context, where the world itself is organic…” Point of view is another device of the formalist approach. Point of view: "preserves the internal form, the organic quality of the work". (Manual page 87) Tension, irony and paradox are "the resolution of opposites". "The fundamental terms - tension, irony and paradox - are often almost indistinguishable, so closely do they work together." (Manual page 90) "A term introduced by Allen Tate, indicating the integral unity that results from the successful resolution of conflicts of abstraction and concreteness..." (Manual page 90) Ambiguity is also present in "Young Goodman Brown". "Paradoxical as it may seem, we suggest that ambiguity is a formal device in 'Young Goodman Brown'." (Manual page 97) One way to see ambiguity in the work, as suggested by the Manual of Critical Approaches, is to trace the relationships of light and darkness. The daylight and darkness of the city and the (dark) forest are important. “Young Goodman Brown” is an easily understandable story. The extensive use of symbolism jumps out at the reader making the story fun and interesting while showing the meaning and ironic twists of events. In “Young Goodman Brown,” the “image” takes on symbolic qualities almost immediately. For example, the pink ribbons in the hair of Faith, Brown's wife. This is a reference and has the same meaning as Hester Prynne's scarlet "A". Another good example of ambiguity and symbolism is the fact that Faith's ribbons are pink, an in-between color. Red is a symbol of evil or provocation and white is a symbol of purity and innocence. "Like the mixture of light and dark in the story... the ribbons are neither red nor white. They are somewhere in between: they are objectified ambiguity.