Loss Of Faith In Young Goodman Brown

Hawthorne in essence, portrayed Goodman as proof of the nature of evil in man by showing how easily even a young dedicated Puritan can easily be influenced by a complete stranger. This stranger was symbolically the Devil among men in this text. Hawthorne begins introducing the Devil immediately as trying to sway Goodman to follow him on a long journey. By leaving his wife, Faith to begin the journey, Goodman Brown was symbolically leaving his faith in God and entering a forsaken ground by following the Devil. The fact that Goodman Brown left with no regard for his wife Faith’s warning, symbolized the lack of regard for his own faith in God and his fellow human race. This simple disregard that Goodman Brown showed was evidence of the easily persuaded ability of man to choose sin over good.

Goodman Brown stated in the story that he came from a line of good Christian men, so he most likely knows the difference from wrong and right. In the eyes of the Puritans, his first shortfall is when he decides to take the journey in the woods. On this journey, he falls more and more into temptation. Every time he said he was going to turn back to go home, the older man always convinced him to keep going deeper into the woods. Humans have the freewill to decide what they want. Goodman Brown could have easily resisted temptation and went back home but the temptation to go deeper into the woods kept him from doing so. As the good Christian man, he is presented to be, Goodman Brown knows should not have be taking a journey into the wood. Even Faith, his wife warned him not to go into the woods because she knew something was not right about it. We as human being imperfect, we sin daily even the righteous make mistakes that cause them to fall short of their religious beliefs.

    In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism.  Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young

Nathaniel Hawthorne constructs uncertainty throughout Young Goodman Brown by employing plot, point of view, and symbolism. For instance, the deception in plot occur as Young Goodman Brown traverses the threshold. Brown considers Faith to be pure and virtuous; a wicked act to leave such behind. Moreover, while conversing alongside the traveler Brown presumes the ethics of his ancestry and townspeople to be good due to high Faith in people. Brown’s perception shatters as the traveler discloses the sinful acts of the masses.

Later in the journey Brown offers his faith as the last reason to abort his walk with the devil: "Well, then, to end the matter at once,... there is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart; and I'd rather break my own!" (214). At this point his faith is still more important to him than his own life. Later, just after doubting whether there really is a Heaven, Brown's trust in his faith is changed as he imagines that even Faith is traveling along the same road of temptation. He exclaims, "My Faith is gone!" "There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! For to thee is this world given"(217). Goodman Brown's faith in humanity is completely destroyed. He concedes the earth and all mankind to the devil. At the end of the story Hawthorne shows that Brown's love for his Faith is damaged forever: "...he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled, and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife and turned away"(221). The journey had changed Brown's relationship with Faith, because it changed his faith in mankind.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” is an attention grabber that leaves you with an ambiguous finale. Goodman Brown, the protagonist, struggles with doubts in his life that takes him on an adventure in the forest. As he travels through the forest Goodman’s excessive curiosity leaves him with a different perspective on life. Hawthorne leaves many clues in the story that symbolizes faith and evilness in the characters.

     Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.

   Nathaniel Hawthorne's works are notable for their treatment of guilt and the complexities of moral choices. "Moral and religious concerns, in short, are almost always present in Hawthorne's work"(Foster, 56). Given Hawthorne's background, it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that his novels are critiques of Puritanism. Hawthorne lived in the deeply scarred New England area, separated from Puritanism by only one generation. His grandfather had been one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials. Personal issues include the various ways Hawthorne's family and specific events in his life influenced his writing. Readers can easily recognize how "Young Goodman Brown" incorporates

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne is able to illustrate to his readers the sense of secrecy and suspense amongst the tainted Puritan society in Salem. Throughout the entire story the reader is left with the lingering thoughts of the double-sided lifestyles of those in the Salem village. One begins to realize there is some sort of hidden meaning and symbolism beneath the events and the people of the story “Young Goodman Brown”. The story reveals a corrupt society that loses its innocence, faith based and Puritan’s ways on the peer pressure of society’s beliefs. During this time it is essential and ideal to have a good faith but when one’s faith is tainted, it can lead to downfall that effects can’t be reversed.

Goodman Brown like every character in the story becomes tempted to sin. He admits that he is a horrible person “what wretch am I” (7) for leaving Faith to follow his temptation. But he is attracted and tempted to sin like every human being. His temptation leads him to become a “stern, sad… distrustful” (72) man. After giving into the temptation of attending the meeting in the forest, he gives into evil and does not know what to believe or trust anymore. All because he went away from his faith. Even

Setting can be a powerful literary device, and Nathaniel Hawthorne wields it to great effect. There are four major settings in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” and they all take place in Salem. This essay is an examination of those settings and their effects.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegory is “Young Goodman Brown.” The setting takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, during the mid-1600s. The protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, ventures into a dark, brooding forest down a path of uncertaincy and fear. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbols of black, the serpent’s staff, and the old traveler to convey his theme about evil.

The desires of humanity often reflect the temptations residing in the heart’s depths. Evil’s lure is a strong pull felt by all, regardless of the appearance put on through the conscious mind. In literature, temptation is explored thoroughly, especially in the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”. “The tale becomes in great part, thus, a record of temptation” (Pualits 578-579). The author of “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. His family has a long standing history in Salem, as his relative John Hathorne was a judge in the Witch Trials. Soon after the trials a ‘w’ was added to the family’s last name to distance themselves from the horrors of the time (Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography). Set during

Human nature consists of the unavoidable tendencies of all humans in spite of the society surrounding them. As a reaction to the Enlightenment, Romanticist texts focus on evoking emotion, spirituality, and intuition that all humans possess. These texts express the ideas that there is more to life than reason and rationality because people do not always make reasonable decisions but rely on their emotions. In majority of the Romanticist texts, the concept of human nature is challenged through the minds of the audience, as they attempt to understand human nature in its true form. In Young Goodman Brown, Nathanial Hawthorne explains his ideas of human nature by leaving the audience to decide what really happened at the meeting in the woods, which shows human nature’s ambiguousness along with the natural conformity of all humans.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne short story “Young Goodman Brown,” he takes us on a journey of the human heart, in which he would later coin the phrase that “there is a fund of evil in every human heart”. Though, the story is filled with dark gloomy imagery, still Hawthorne was able to keep us wanting to know more base on the fact its Salem village and we all know their history. With the uses of symbolism, and irony the author incorporate nature such as the “deep forest”, and “Faith” the newly wife of young Goodman brown working hand in hand to illustrate the purpose of the story. Hawthorne shows us that our faith should not be define base on the perception of others, see with Goodman Brown, would be compromised and weaken.