Young Goodman Brown Faith Analysis

The story informs us that faith is paramount to a person, and if compromised, the effects can lead to one having doubts and skepticism of everyone around them. ​Goodman brown has faith. It is portrayed when he enters the forest and during his journey to the black mass. Faith is used as a symbol of Goodman’s faith. His faith is also brought out by the description made of his wife Faith.

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.

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.

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.

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) The manner in which Goodman Brown based his faith is a very good example of how not to base one’s faith. The strength of Goodman Browns faith was based on his wife’s faith, his trust in his neighbors, and his personal experiences. The strength of one’s faith is one of the most important aspects of any person, and it is especially important in the story Young Goodman Brown.

Young Goodman Brown is the stereotypical Puritan man who has been recently married, and is starting his life. His young wife, Faith, is representative of his literal Christian faith. He mentions near the beginning of the story that after this one night he’ll “cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven.” This is reminiscent of, I’m sure, every Christian’s desperate prayer that “after this one last time, I’ll quit for good, I promise.” Once Faith has been corrupted, Brown gives up. Once his Christian faith was found to be hollow, empty, and void of meaning, he has no reason left.

In the story “Young Goodman Brown,” the character Brown is a religious man who lives fully on his faith, spiritually and physically. Faith was also the name of his wife, which could be taken as symbolism for his actual faith that was in his life. As it says in the book “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named…” He uses his “Faith” to go about the world. He uses Faith to guide him throughout the way that he lives his life continuously. Another ironic aspect in the story of “Young Goodman Brown,” is how they are in the town of Salem which is known for various reasons. One main reason is that Salem is where the famous Witch Trials had taken place. The Witch Trials became a huge part of American history because of the countless Puritans that were sentenced to death for being accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, witchcraft being pure evil goes against every part of the Puritan religion.

His pride over his family and how godly they are seen by the people of Salem allow him to accept following the dangerous and evil path in the depths of the dark forest leaving his wife, Faith home alone. Faith, allows Goodman Brown all the more to feel confident in his decision to follow the devil, ultimately exchanging his soul for the ability to see good and evil in everyone that surrounds him. The innocent, pure and godly Faith, will be his last chance at Heaven as Goodman says, “...after this one night , I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”.. Faith is the true embodiment of good on earth, “ ...she’s a blessed angel on earth... ” and the reason for Goodman’s existing believe in religion.

Just when I thought he was turned to the evil side, Goodman sees his wife’s hair-ties. This is where he starts to turn back to the good side of life. On page 277, Goodman says, “Come witch, come wizard, come Indian powwow, come devil himself! and here comes Goodman Brown. You may as well fear him as he fear you!” This is where Goodman turns back to the good side, when he finds out the devil is consuming his Faith. When Goodman and Faith are on the evil altar, Goodman says, ”Faith! Faith! Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!” Obviously Faith was evil-hearted because she was at this gathering with the devil. She went there to be inducted into the group and Goodman tried to stop her. This wasn’t a dream he was having because on page 280 it says, “while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire.” There was a twig on fire and it brushed against his cheek.

Faith is all Goodman Brown has known. He had even married a Faith. The double meaning of Faith within this story shows major Irony for us as the readers. Brown marrying a Faith was almost shown as he made the biggest devotion towards God. The main character has put every ounce of Faith he has into his life that would completely give himself to God forever. This is

Goodman Brown starts on his journey with a strong will and a great solution for the problems to come in the future. Even though Goodman knows he is about to commit a sin, his belief in his faith will bring him home safely. Goodman Brown also shows he has belief in his faith while he travels through the forest when the dark figure encourages Goodman Brown to join him. Goodman Brown responds, "'having kept my covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples, touching the matter thou wot'st of'" (141). Goodman Brown's "purpose" and "scruples" refers back to the good faith he has. This dark figure tells Goodman Brown every single sin he has committed, and Goodman Brown proceeds to say he would rather have his heart broken than his wife’s. Once again Hawthorne uses the name Faith to symbolize Goodman Brown's faith, and he lets the reader know Goodman Brown would rather die than let go of his good faith. Watching the town minister and Deacon Gookin riding to the black mass, Goodman Brown once again shows his faith is strong. By entering the forest, he chooses to leave Faith behind, both literally and

Faith plays a major role in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown”. From the start of his journey to his arrival back home, Faith is always in the back of head, making him question his surroundings and own thoughts. It’s hard to determine when he’s speaking of his lovely wife Faith or his Faith in his God and religion. Through his many

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. ”(Genesis 2:15-17) Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story set in Salem, Massachusetts. The story centers on Goodman Brown a man who is setting off on a journey that leads him to discover the evils within himself and those close to him like his wife Faith.

     The word faith throughout the story is a play on words. The first use of the word faith is the name of Goodman Brown?s wife. The second use of the word faith describes Goodman Brown?s belief, trust and

The story of Goodman begins with his journey to the forest and although the reasons to the journey do not exist in the text, it is a clear indication that he has lost part of his faith in God and in a witch-hunt; he was trying to find a deeper reason for his belief. According to Goodman and the people of Salem village, the forest was a symbol of evil and even his father and grandfather had warned him of entering the forest therefore making his journey questionable considering he was a man of complete faith in God. Good man is married to Faith, who he loves dearly as evident in the passage when he states “my love and my faith”. This symbolises his love for his wife surpassing that of mere affection to a deeper feeling of belief with complete