Essay about Good and Evil in Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Taking a trip to the forest, Brown discovers the truth that there is evil in all individuals realizing all that he had once thought to be true was a lie. After that one night, whether it was a dream or not, his ideas were set in stone. Because of the discovery in the forest, he believes that once a sin has been committed, one is automatically evil. As

The story “Young Goodman Brown,” in its entirety is an allegory, a literary device used to teach a religious lesson. The reader is lead to wonder if the story’s events truly took place or if it was simply a bad dream. The story leaves readers wondering why Goodman Brown feels compelled to journey into the forest. “Young Goodman Brown” begins with Faith’s plea for Brown to not leave her on that night. He chooses to go out into the woods and ends up taking a “walk with the devil.” On his journey, Brown struggles with his decision and at times wants to turn back. His conscious tugs at him, much like the devil tempts individuals to do things that are wrong and evil. Brown seems to be concerned with what others will think if they see him in the woods. When “Goodman Brown recognized

However the devil overpowers his sense to go back and he continues on into the forest. The devil gives Brown a lot of information about his family and ancestors, and how they did terrible things such as worship the devil and practice black art. In the forest Brown also witnesses many people from his town; people that he thought were good and would never do evil things. He sees his childhood Sunday school teacher, the minister, and the deacon all on their way to worship the devil.

In "Young Goodman Brown." Nathaniel Hawthorne considers the question of good and evil, suggesting that true evil is judging and condemning others for sin without looking at one's own sinfulness. He examines the idea that sin is part of being human and there is no escape from it.

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the fragility of humans when it comes to their morality. Goodman Brown goes on a journey through the forest with the devil to watch the witches’ ritual and observes the evil in the Puritan society. He loses his faith as he sees the people he respects the most participating in the sinful ritual. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes setting, and symbolism in his short story “Young Goodman Brown,” to show how a person’s perspective can change by showing the hypocritical nature of the Puritan society

Though Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author of many great works, his short story “Young Goodman Brown” still stays relevant because it has themes and subjects that are relatable in today 's world. In the story “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown leaves his wife Faith, to go into the woods near Salem to have a meeting with the devil. Appearance vs. reality is shown in “Young Goodman Brown” through the plot, the character of Goody Cloyse, and the symbol of the maple staff.

to save him, so it won?t matter if he leaves his own at home because it will be waiting for him. Brown meets the devil along a crooked path, and the devil asks why he is late; Brown replies, ?Faith kept me back awhile?(311). The ?faith? Brown has left behind is not just his wife, but also his literal faith to satisfy his burning human curiosity. Brown shows his desire to break loose from his normal life by meeting Satan, the spawn of all rebellion, in the forest. Brown tries to fight the evil inside of him to tell the devil he must go back to his faith, and the devil convinces him that they will walk the crooked path and reason as they go. The devil says, ?and if I convince thee not thou shalt turn back. We are but little in the forest yet?(312). As they venture further into the forest the devil tries to strip Brown of his faith, but he realizes this and stops to exclaim, ?Too far! Too far!?(312). Brown argues the good Christian background of his father and grandfather would never walk upon this crooked path with the devil by their side. The path that Brown is on causes him to gamble with his soul under the promptings of the devil, and he knows he must choose to either roll the dice or turn around and go home. The devil is prepared for such resistance and refutes Brown?s declaration of his ancestors by saying, ?They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after

“Young Goodman Brown,” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835, is a short story about a man named young Goodman Brown who leaves his wife, Faith, to go on an errand into the woods with the devil. Faith begs Goodman Brown to not leave her alone, but he chooses to go anyways. This short story shows many signs of symbolism, such as the forest, the devil, the staff, the pink ribbons, Faith, sin, and guilt. These symbols help in understanding the story of young Goodman Brown and his unconscious struggle with his religion. The trip not only takes Brown onto a journey of sadness, but also into the deepest parts of his soul. Goodman Brown wishes to enter the dark forest of sin, to satisfy his

“By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places—whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest—where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot” (332). Near the end of the story, Goodman Brown has seen the evil in every person, and it causes isolating of his life. In the story, the narrator poses an important question: "Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?" (Meyer 333). The choice is dream or reality. Whatever the reader chooses to believe, Goodman Brown's own horrible doubts create a central theme of the tale (Fogel 21).

In “Young Goodman Brown,” there is a fight between good and evil with one main character being torn between the two sides and every other character seemingly on one side or the other through the reader’s view, although many characters do deceive Goodman Brown about whether they are good or evil. This fight between the two sides and the deception that causes confusion for Goodman Brown is the source of tension throughout the entire story. In “Young Goodman Brown,” every character’s traits and dialogue, the setting, and even colors mentioned have double meanings and are symbolic to the main binary oppositions of either good or evil.

The short story Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, accurately bestows all aspects of an allegory. According to Merriam Webster, an allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Through this work, Hawthorne is able to depict the apparent hypocrisy in today’s world and especially in religion in America. The story is of a man, Young Goodman Brown, who is highly tempted by the devil himself and in the end caves to the pressure due to his lack of faith and even due to a little curiosity. Brown could not help but wonder what this new world could potentially behold for him; unfortunately, his curiosity didn’t change him for the better, only for the worse. The ceremony and changing opened his eyes and made him see the true colors of those around him. We see how Brown loses faith in the people in his community, his family, and especially in himself.

"As he was walking into the forest I think it symbolic of how his soul is getting darker as the light of goodness fade away from his soul and the Indian behind the trees are the temptations in his life that are out to get him." says Owatas (website 1) Young Good Man Brown even doubts his next course f action but as soon as he meets up with the devil his fate is sealed.

The primary setting of “Young Goodman Brown” is the forest. The Puritans believed that the woods were evil

Ignoring his wife’s plea to not take the journey but Brown allows the demonic figure to convince him to go into the forest despite knowing that not even his ancestors have traveled through there before.

The old man uses an everybody is doing it approach to encourage Goodman Brown to attend a ceremony to worship the Devil. The old man shows the people Goodman Brown respected most in his community to degrade his faith. As Goodman Brown loses faith in others, he loses faith in himself. Mckeithan continues to say, “The Minister of Salem Village, Deacon Gookin, Goody Closyse, and Faith were all good in spite of what Goodman Brown eventually came to think of them (96). These are people that were supposedly more spiritually mature than Goodman Brown. He relied on their faith to keep his strong because his faith in God was still new and not fully developed. The psychology of Goodman Brown plays a major rule in his lack of faith because his lack of self esteem allows his desires overcome his reason and morality.