Secrecy And Suspense In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

As mentioned above, Hawthorne likes to use symbolism as a way to explain to make his short stories feel deeper than what they currently were. These symbols can be anything and anyone and there is no one more of a symbol than Goodman Brown's wife, Faith. She is Goodman Brown's beloved wife who symbolizes his love and hope in God. My reason for this point is because Faith in the story is seen as a pure and innocent woman who remain very loyal to Goodman Brown as he goes on his spiritual journey. Throughout the

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.

Immediately in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story Young Goodman Brown the reader is introduced to a troubled character who is about to set forth on a journey that will make or break his most valuable beliefs. Hawthorn reveals to readers the dangers that come with testing your religion throughout the use of characterization and symbolism. Readers can assume the double meaning behind Goodman Brown’s wife's name, “Faith” to be a symbolization of his religion. Hawthorn's other use of symbolism is found in his use of the character who leads Goodman Brown deeper into the woods. This man is characterized to resemble the devil who, throughout the story, is ultimately leading him to temptation. By using these literary devices, Hawthorn is able to show readers how being naive while testing your faith can lead to a bad outcome.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote Young Goodman Brown based on morals and what Easterly in "Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' " calls "spiritual maturity" (Easterly 339). In the short story, Goodman Brown, a young Puritan leaves his wife of three months to watch a witch ceremony in the forest. During this point in time, Puritans based their lives on teachings of religion and morality; therefore, witch-meetings were surely immoral, and they betrayed the commitment of God. Dwelling in the forest throughout the night, Goodman Brown experiences an event that changes his entire perspective of life. In one night, the event destroys "his relationship with his wife Faith, isolates him from his neighbors, and destroys his ability to

Young Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, is also an important symbol in this story. Her name alone implies that she is a symbol for goodness and the Christian life that Young Goodman Brown leaves behind when he departs on his journey. In the story, it says that she calls out to him and he turns his back on her, which can either be taken literally or in the sense of one turning his back on God and Christian life, because he heads for the woods, an implication of sin and witchcraft. In her hair, Faith wears pink ribbons, which are a sign of her innocence and playfulness. When Goodman Brown sees her pink ribbons in her hair, he is aware of her innocence, so when he finds a pink ribbon belonging to her clinging to a tree branch in the woods, he doubts the faith of her and of all those around him.

He was able to at least blindly acknowledge the new side to Goody Close, and the minister and the Deacon, but with the sight of her pink ribbon "after one stupefied moment" Young Goodman Brown cried "my Faith is gone" (190). On the outside he believes his wife too has fallen into the trap of the devil yet on the inside he has lost his own faith. "There is no good on earth…come, devil; for to thee is this world given" (190). To Goodman Brown his world is now over and with his faith in the world, in his society gone he succumbs to the evilness of the forest.

Young Goodman Brown is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Written in 1835, the story deals with a late night meeting between a man and the Devil. On the surface this is all the story is, but if one looks closer one would find the story to be littered with symbolic images.

He knows that the men (minister and Deacon Gookin) represent good but ironically are heading towards the evil as well. At this moment, he still seems to have faith. However, when he sees his wife, Faith, heading to the ceremony, he is in shock and dismay. On page 259, he says, “My Faith is gone! cried he, after one stupefied moment.

When Goodman comes back he thinks he is better than the rest and judges everyone instantly. He then comes to the conclusion that he is the only person that is not a devil worshiper. Just as before with the witch trials, he is judging them as the so-called witches were judged by his ancestors. A reference to Martha Carrier is made is the story,

There are several themes in “Young Goodman Brown.” One of the themes that is mentioned throughout the story is love. The reader can tell Goodman Brown is a worthy husband by the way he talks and worries about his wife, Faith. Another theme in “Young Goodman Brown” is loss of innocence. In the beginning of the story Goodman Brown and Faith are a newlywed innocence couple. Throughout the story it shows the corruption of evil has gotten to them. The last theme is fear of wilderness. Brown battles between good and evil on his journey through the wilderness to find his true faith as he goes to meet with the devil.

In the tale, when Goodman looses Faith he in two ways. He looses his wife Faith physically to the devil and he looses his religious faith after seeing all the townsmen at the satanic gathering worshiping Satan. “My faith is gone!” (323)

The dark figure in the forest approaches Goodman Brown and tells him he is late. Goodman Brown then replies, "Faith kept me back awhile" (141). Once again the name of his wife symbolizes Goodman Brown's own faith and shows he has to compromise his faith to go into the forest. Goodman Brown sees many people going to the meeting place and is shocked to find out that many of them are people of great government and religious stature. Here, Hawthorne shows that all people are sinners no matter how they appear in society. First, Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse. She is directly described by Hawthorne as very fine and religious woman. Goodman Brown cannot believe Goody Cloyse would be out in the dark forest because she had taught him his catechism. The catechism is the original schooling of the Bible in the Christian religion. This clarifies that Goodman Brown's faith is beginning to weaken because seeing Goody Cloyse shows the basis of his faith is weak. Even though Goodman Brown attempts to keep his good faith when he sees the town minister and Deacon Gookin, he shows his faith weakens and diminishes when he caught hold of a tree, for support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburthened with the sickness of his heart. When he finds the pink ribbon of his wife in the forest, Goodman Brown's faith is weakened

(341) Afterward, it is said that “there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.” (341) The importance behind this statement is that, although Goody Cloyse had been the one who had taught him the basics of his religion, she is seen consorting with the Devil and clearly dabbling in witchcraft. Brown expresses his disgust for the sinners, although he too had been led to the dark ritual himself of his own volition. It is even described that when he advanced towards the group, “he felt a loathful brotherhood, by the sympathy of all that was wicked in his heart.” (345)

Goodman brown and his wife Faith, are both important in the story. Goodman browns nature are symbolized by his name (Young Goodman Brown), Goodman he implies an innocent view into the methods the world through his supposed young and innocent eyes. This supposing mean he is a pure and good man but Goodman brown, however, is the complete opposite, it doesn't represent good or purity, instead it represents something filthy or grimy, spoil or bad. Faith symbolizes hope, trust, and salvation. But she is described as “A lone woman who is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she’s afraid of herself sometimes.

Each time Goodman Brown refers to her, it is only too clear that he may in fact be referring to his own personal faith in God, life, and humanity, which is questioned to the point of breaking in this narrative. In fact, it seems that Faith is not even a character, so to speak. Rather, she is a tangible symbol of Goodman Brown’s faith and the changes that it endures when Goodman Brown loses his childhood innocence. (Stephanie Paey)