The Inescapable Loss Of Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

“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 looking at the name Goodman Brown, we might assume that Hawthorne is pointing to Goodman’s pious nature in his devotion to religious faith. However, the fact that he is referred to as young Goodman is perhaps more suggestive of his limitations, especially when examined through the lens of Fuller’s argument. Just as Fuller distinguishes the man who fails to “intellectually discern[ ] the destiny of woman” as “only a great boy” (Fuller 883), Hawthorne implies that the young Goodman has quite a bit of growing up to do in order to discern Faith’s own capabilities. The name Faith can then be expanded beyond Goodman’s faith in the virtue of humankind, but more so the undying faith that he maintains in his wife being tied to domestic duties. It is this same delusive faith that “ke[eps] [him] back awhile” (Hawthorne 1114) and causes him comfort when thinking of the “calm sleep” he will enjoy “in the arms of Faith” (Hawthorne 1117).

“In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.” (1) Young Goodman Brown has several characters that mirror archetypal figures throughout the story. His wife Faith is a very important archetype in this story. Faith is the absolute love of Young Goodman Brown's life. In his eyes, Faith could never do anything wrong. She is representing the purity in the world and innocence of the world. The pink ribbons she wears in her hair also represent her innocence. She also represents people literal faith in God or religion. When Young Goodman Brown is in the woods nothing is going to persuade him to take the staff of the old man or finish his journey to the ceremony because he has faith and she is his rock to lean on. It's not until the he sees that even his sweet love has been drawn into the darkness and her pink ribbon have fallen off as she flew by him on the way to the ceremony that his point of view shifts. “There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fading into far-off laughter, as the dark

Hawthorne uses this quote as an underlying statement that it wasn’t just his wife that held him back from his rendezvous with the Devil, but also his Faith in God. Hawthorne meant for the reader to make the connection between Goodman’s Wife, Faith and Goodman’s faith in God for which both attempt to sway Goodman from following the path the Devil intends for him.

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses different people as symbols throughout "Young Goodman Brown." The largest symbolic roles in the story are goodman Brown and his wife Faith. Both of the characters' names are symbolic and representative of their personalities. "'With Heaven above and Faith below, I will stand firm against the devil!' cried goodman Brown," is

Throughout the story “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne shows us that a man’s faith is the most important power to have but at times because of so much faith people can end up getting curious towards the people they are surrounded with. While reading “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne makes us asks ourselves the question “why is it that once Goodman Brown sees evil he loses his faith?” Goodman Brown believes that his faith is courageous enough for him to go into the forest and prove that there is no such thing as evil, but once he realizes that there is evil and that people from his own Puritan community are taking part of it he gains some kind of distrust against his own people and his faith. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman

Goodman Browns weak faith is displayed in the very beginning with him lying to his wife Faith telling her that he is going on a business errand in the middle of the night when in fact he is planning to attend an evil congregation in the forest out of curiosity. When the older man, who resembles his grandfather, which is Hawthorne’s way to further emphasis the fact Goodman Browns forefathers walked the very same evil path, tells him that he is well acquainted with his family, the deacons of the church, the General court, and the governor, Goodman Brown is shocked but is more concerned with the idea of getting caught committing such an evil act and worries about how would meet the eyes of the minister in town on the Sabbath, at this, unable

     Throughout the story Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the names of Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith as symbolic representations. The word ?young? in Goodman Brown?s name gives you the image of an inexperienced, naïve boy who must take on an adventure instead of staying in the comfort of his surroundings. His wife, Faith, tries to stop him by saying, ?Pray thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night.? (196) Here you see Faith encouraging Goodman Brown?s quest for knowledge to be done in the light (sunrise) instead traveling through the unknown darkness to gain wisdom. Her fear is made clear through the use of light and dark imagery. The use of the words ?good? and ?man? in Goodman Brown names leaves you to wonder if men are really good. My interpretation is that Goodman Brown is not good at all because he falls into the devil's temptation and excepts the baptism. It proves that even the best of men are subject to imperfection.

The story mentions that Brown’s wife’s name fits her appropriately as she is an accurate representation of a profound faith in the Lord (Hawthorne para. 1). Throughout “Young Goodman Brown,” Brown looks for his wife Faith, a key symbol of innocence throughout the story, but he soon realizes that Faith presents an undeniable facade of good. As numerous people gather at the devil’s congregation, Brown looks over to surprisingly see Faith. This deception of good is probably the most hurtful to 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

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

Many events led up to him losing his faith and being consumed with self-doubt, but the one that finally pushed Goodman Brown over the edge to call onto the devil was when he could not find his wife Faith. The line “‘But where is Faith?’ thought Goodman Brown; and, as hope came into his heart, he trembled.” shows

Goodman Brown represents anyone; he is basically any and every man. When the symbolism started at the beginning of the story Brown was first described as young and newly married. His wife Faith, whose name and character bears much significance, represented many different ideas. Goodman Brown can symbolically be viewed as a believer and a follower of God. Brown and “Faith’s” relationship is still being established, he does not completely cling to faith.

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.

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.