Nathaniel Hawthorne 's Young Goodman Brown

The first thing that the reader realizes when reading the text is that Goodman Brown is very anxious and uneasy when leaving his wife. He remarks, “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand!” (Hawthorne np). This might explain how he is very unsure of what this “errand” might ensue. Of course, having read the story, the reader would know that the so called “errand” was an excuse to talk to the devil himself. Brown’s id basically triumphs when he makes the decision to leave his wife to converse with the Devil. This is the first red flag for the reader. Hawthorne inserts a foreshadow concerning this following the departure of Goodman Brown from his faithful wife. Brown states, “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!” (Hawthorne np). This is exactly what happens after he remarks that line, seeing the man on the road. The reader can now assess that Brown is unsure of his errand that he is running, considering that he is leaving the safe puritanical village and entering into the forest, a symbolic place of chaos and evil.

Many authors who write of religious, philosophical, or moral issues frequently use symbolism and allegory to spark the reader’s interest. This style of writing builds on the emotions of the reader. It creates a visual image making the story real and believable.

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.

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.

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.

What changes human nature? Are people bad by nature, or do people only hurt each other because they believe it’s the world that’s a bad place? Hawthorne illustrates a man who faced this struggle head on (Goodman Brown) in his short story “Young Goodman Brown.” Near the end of the short story, Goodman Brown, who once seen everyone as pure and people of God had a life changing experience. The devil told him that “sin ye shall scent out all the places.”

"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a haunting tale of evil's strength when morality is based on others perception of one's righteousness, which then cultivates mass hypocrisy. This story follows Goodman's breakdown of faith through the symbolism of his sacrifices, obstacles, and transformation.

Themes and Symbols Reading a short story, what is the whole meaning of that story? Does it portray to evil, happiness, or loneliness? In all stories there is a theme; which is the overall meaning of the story.

From the beginning of “Young Goodman Brown”, he sets off on his adventure right at sunset. But to set out on sunset means to go during darkness. In describing it in that sense, it is symbolizing evil, which establishes the setting of the story. When Goodman Brown is beginning his journey into the woods, he tells his wife, who is aptly named Faith goodbye. Hawthorne intentionally names her Faith because it symbolizes the faith in God that he and his wife share, and to also depict what Goodman Brown leaves at his house while he goes on his adventure. His wife is wearing pink ribbons in her hair, which implies that she is a pure, innocent woman. Before Goodman Brown begins his departure into the woods, she tells him not to go until sunrise. This implies that going during a sunrise is much more peaceful and pleasant rather than going during sunset when it is otherwise

The way Hawthorne portrays Brown’s wife, Faith, is one of the most unique and powerful pieces of the story. It shows how a man can think completely differently and lose his faith due to traumatizing events. The way Young Goodman Brown represents the everyman is something very unique and enjoyable, as it takes the reader and puts them right into the main character’s shoes. Brown faces a lot of adversity that most people will go through one way or another, and Brown in this story can represent any given person during at least one point in their life. True, it may be hard to understand how one man could represent all of humanity, but Hawthorne did an excellent job at getting as close as possible. Young Goodman Brown may not be who someone identifies with when a crisis occurs, but his character truly shows how big of an impact an extreme incident can be on any given person, and completely changing their way of going about

“Young Goodman Brown” has a theme of Puritan nature as well. People often dwell on life’s uncertainties so much that they loose the ability to enjoy life. Goodman Brown had a curiosity that made him travel into the wicked

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of “Young Goodman Brown,” was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. Hawthorne, born into a Puritan family who was struggling financially, had never met his father. He had died when Hawthorne was but a boy of four years old. This, along with embarrassments brought upon by other ancestors, seemed to affect his writing and perhaps even inspired parts of “Young Goodman Brown.” Hawthorne had one ancestor, a Puritan judge, who persecuted Quakers, and another, who had taken part in the Salem Witch Hysteria (Meyer 322). Both of these were mentioned, or hinted upon, in the story of “Young Goodman Brown.”

Ronan states Goodman Brown is “both a Hawthorne and a son of Burroughs—“ the holy man” whose hanging is portrayed in “Main-street” as the ultimate symbol of the witch trials’ injustice”( Ronan 279). As Goodman Brown continues to walk with this older man he starts to get nervous say “too far too far!’ exclaimed Goodman, unconsciously resuming his walk” (Hawthorne 388). Although Goodman Brown knows what he is doing is wrong, he continues walking in the woods with the traveler. Goodman Brown states “My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians, since the days of the martyrs. And shall I be the first of the name Brown, that ever took this path”(Hawthorne 388). Again, the importance of family history in the role of guilt regarding Puritan values and practices emerges as the traveler enlightens Goodman Brown about his father and grandfather. The traveler states “ I helped your grandfather, the constable [lash a] Quaker women smartly through the streets of Salem...I brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip’s war” (Hawthorne 388). This is also the first time when the reader sees the traveler as more than a normal man, but the devil.

   This essay will examine the main physical settings within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” These are four in number and begin and end in the village of Salem.

“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a normal man that ventures into the forest to meet an old man who attempts to tempt him into going deeper into the woods to worship the devil. After the old man convinces him that everyone that he loves and respects is going to the devil’s ceremony he gives in. In “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne effectively uses symbolism to portray the theme that putting one 's faith in others leads to weakness and the role his psychological developed plays in his morality.