Essay on Faith in "Young Goodman Brown"

Hawthorn’s naming of Brown’s wife “Faith” has a duel mean. Brown’s “Faith” represents his spiritual faith along with his loving wife who he characterizes as being “a blessed angel on earth,” (526). When Brown exclaims “My Faith is gone!” (531) not only is Brown referring to the fact that he believes he may have lost his dear wife, but he loses his spiritual faith and the faith in others as more is unfolded on his journey to the communion. When he encounters his wife the next day, unsure as to whether or not the previous nights events occurred he “looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting,” (534). This experience Brown had transforms him from being a man strong to “a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man,” (535).

In Young Goodman Brown one of the most important symbolisms is Faith, Brown’s wife, Faith represents he’s actual faith in god. When Goodman Brown was heading into the forest, he still has her, but as the story unravels it becomes clearer that Faith is not who she seems. Hawthorne makes Faith seem young and innocent when he describes her: "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap". Brown knew her as someone who he could trust and care for, just like his actual faith in god. As the story goes on, Brown heads into the forest,

Goodman Brown’s journey into the woods introduces us into his own religious hypocrisy. His character is described as young and possibly naïve to the true nature of the world, and Goodman Brown considers himself descended from”… a race of honest men and good Christians” (343). However, for unknown reasons, perhaps just out of curiosity, he decides to venture into the woods on a quest of “evil purpose.” Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife, is an important source of symbolism throughout his journey. She is not only his wife, but she is also symbolic of his spiritual faith. Before setting off into the woods Faith begs him not to go and foreshadows that nothing good will come of his trip. Hawthorne uses this scene to emphasize that questioning and straying from his “Faith” for even a night shows that his spiritual faith is much less established than he displays to his wife or the public. It also symbolizes that Goodman Brown had doubted and compromised his faith before he even began his voyage into the woods.

Once Brown is deep into the forest, he is surrounded by people from his town acting wicked and sinful, people who he had always assumed were noble and righteous. As he is led to the altar to be received into this association of evil, he is joined by his wife, Faith. Brown cannot believe his religious and heavenly wife is there. She represents what is good to him, and he cries to her to look heavenward and save herself. But

The main symbol used by Hawthorne throughout the story is Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith. Faith has a more of a significance in the story than just Brown’s wife, she represents actual faith and purity. There is a conflict going on inside of Brown’s mind and it is if he should “keep the faith” or not. In the beginning, Faith urges Brown to stay home and go in the morning, but he disregards her and keeps going. This is a metaphor for Brown leaving his religious faith. Goodman Brown questions if his wife has lost faith in him and he asks her, ‘“dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married?”’ Throughout the story, Faith stays as a symbol of Brown’s faith. The devil and Goodman Brown finally meet and the devil questions Brown about being late. Brown being a little afraid responds with, “Faith kept me back awhile,” Faith physically tried to hold Brown back and figuratively talking about his faith in the religion. His wife could have prevented Brown from talking to the devil, but failed. Meeting with the devil evidently shows that Brown is willing to see the evil side of his religion.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the story Young Goodman Brown.

Notably Faith, the protagonist’s wife, plays a huge role as an allegory and a symbol throughout Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” In this story Faith’s name plays as an allegory. At first this could easily be missed because it sounds like a common name for a woman, but once the readers get further into the story they realize that her name plays an enormous role in the story’s plot. Faith’s name symbolizes Brown’s faith in God. In the story when Brown meets the man in the forest the man says, “You are late Goodman Brown,” and Brown replies, “Faith kept me back awhile” (Hawthorne 330). At this point of the story the audience knows for

“Young Goodman Brown” is set right after the Salem Witch Trials and much of the story is based on the ideology of that era. Faith is clearly meant to represent Goodman Brown’s tether to Puritanism. Hawthorne gives us a flashing sign for this in only the second sentence “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named...” (315). This quote is fairly self-explanatory, but it is a bold message to pay attention to the character Faith and how she related to faith. Another description of the role of Faith, in Mr. Brown’s life, is in the form of the subtle wording he uses when talking to the devil. “ ‘Faith kept me back a while,’replied the young man,” (316) This quote may seem to be referring to Faith the character keeping him back a while, but with deeper inspection one can conclude that it references faith, as in his religion, kept him away from the sinful journey on which he is currently embarking. Another little key in the story is how Mr. Brown addresses his wife. “My love and my Faith,” (315). The faith in question is not the wife’s name, but instead he is calling his wife his faith or the holy that he believes in. The last quote that is needed to secure this symbolism is found as the devil is trying to seduce Goodman Brown to follow him further using the woman that taught him religion as incentive. “What if a wretched old woman does choose to go to the devil

In Young Goodman Brown, the main character, Goodman Brown has a bout with his own faith. He ends up losing this battle because of the wickedness in everyone else’s hearts. He begins by wanting to be the evil one, then progresses to be the faithful one as the night in the woods goes on. His name has a lot to do with the character in the story. The “Young” in his name is to symbolize innocence, and “GOODMAN” is pretty self-explanatory. He goes off in to the woods and comes with a lost faith in everyone else in the town.

Brown believes that his wife should be excluded from the meeting so she will remain pure, yet somehow believes that his presence is mandatory and gives no thought to his own purity. He believes that Faith's immediate acceptance into heaven will pull him along with her, regardless of his sinful actions. Brown's nervousness about his journey shows that he is conscious of the risks, yet he refuses the possibility of remaining home because he believes in his own ability to resist corruption, even if he does not believe in Faith's. Brown's willingness to make an exception for his own actions while refusing the same exception for Faith is one of Hawthorne's first scornful examples of hypocrisy. Similarly, Hawthorne highlights the hypocritical juxtaposition of Brown's actions during and after the ritual. When Brown discovers Faith's pink hair ribbon and realizes the Devil has taken her, he is terrified and continuously searches for her as the Devil speaks. However, upon finding her and waking up from his dream, he treats her differently because of her attendance: "Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith; and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne introduces Goodman Brown, who doubts himself and reiterates his false confidence to himself repeatedly. His struggle between the evil temptations, the devil, and the proper church abiding life, is a struggle he does not think he can handle. This story is about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before the sunrise.

Faith plays a major role in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown”. From the start of his journey to his arrival back home, Faith is always in the back of head, making him question his surroundings and own thoughts. It’s hard to determine when he’s speaking of his lovely wife Faith or his Faith in his God and religion. Through his many

Hawthorne repeated uses references to Faith throughout the story to show Brown 's ambivalence in taking this dark journey. Goodman Brown sets off on his journey with a strong will and an "excellent resolve for the future" (141), and he "felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose" (141). Although he knows he is about to partake in a sinful act, Goodman Brown 's belief in his faith will bring him home safely and untainted. Goodman Brown also shows he believes in his faith while he ventures through the forest when the dark figure urges Goodman Brown to go with him. Goodman Brown replies, " 'having kept my covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples, touching the matter thou wot 'st of '" (141). Goodman Brown 's "purpose" and "scruples" refer to his good faith. After the dark figure tells Goodman Brown about all of the evil acts he has performed, Goodman Brown exclaims, " 'there is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart: and I 'd rather break my own '" (142). Again Hawthorne uses the name Faith to symbolize Goodman Brown 's faith, and he lets the reader know Goodman Brown would rather die than give up his faith. Upon seeing the town minister and Deacon Gookin riding to the black mass, Goodman

First, I will elaborate on the lies Faith and Brown had for each other, which builds up deception and their lack of faith in their relationship. When Brown is leaving Faith to meet with the Devil, Faith pleads but finally relents and states, “Then God bless you...and may you find all well when you come back” (Hawthorne, 387). Her gesture is sincere because she wishes him good luck and hopes that no harm comes his way. She even trusts Brown enough to go on a journey he did not further detail. However, Faith is contradicting with both words and appearance. Her strange word choice of

Seeing his fellow church members and his wife among women who were convicted and put to death for being witches makes Brown question himself. Yet, still Brown abhors transgression. Although he avoids Satan, however, he cannot forget how Satan influenced him with what he saw that night. He became " a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man" (Hawthorne 1244) and lived his life this way until death.