young goodman brown thesis

Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on April 28, 2022

“Young Goodman Brown,” initially appearing in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) as both a bleak romance and a moral allegory, has maintained its hold on contemporary readers as a tale of initiation, alienation, and evil. Undoubtedly one of Nathaniel Hawthorne ’s most disturbing stories, it opens as a young man of the town, Goodman Brown, bids farewell to his wife, Faith, and sets off on a path toward the dark forest. Brown’s journey to the forest and his exposure to life-shattering encounters and revelations remain the subject of speculation. Although his meeting with the devil is clear, the results remain ambiguous and perplexing. When viewed as a bildungsroman, it is one of the bleakest in American fiction, long or short. Rather than an initiation into manhood, Brown’s is an initiation into evil.

Much of the power of the story derives from the opening scene of missed chances: Faith, introduced in the second sentence and given the first words of dialogue, leans out the window, her pink ribbons fl uttering, and entreats her husband to stay. Brown, however, although he continues to think of returning, is determined to depart on this dark road. Almost instantly, he—and the reader—become enveloped in the darkness and gloom of the forest. The narrator equates the dreariness with both solitude and evil, and the aura of doom pervades the story. Along the way Brown meets a man who looks curiously like Brown’s father and grandfather; that this traveler is the devil is clear from his snakelike stick and evident power to assume different shapes. The traveler reveals his role in helping Brown’s Puritan ancestors commit crimes against Quakers and Indians. Brown protests that his family has traditionally revered the principles of Christianity, but the traveler provides numerous examples of his converts across all of New England, in both small town and state positions, in the fields of politics, religion, and the law. That Brown himself is from Salem suggests Hawthorne’s fascination with the Puritan guilt of his—and our—own forefathers manifested in other short stories such as “Alice Doane’s Appeal,” a tale about the Puritan obsession with witchcraft.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. Getty Images

Next Brown hides in the forest, demonstrating his hypocrisy, as he sees Goody Cloyse, a pious townswoman, walking along the dark trail. She and the traveler openly discuss her witchcraft, and when Brown leaves his hiding place, he marvels at his memory of Goody Cloyse teaching him his catechism when he was a boy. Again Brown thinks of returning home to Faith, but instead he still hides in the forest, recognizing many of the townspeople passing through and hearing that tonight’s forest meeting will be attended by people from Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as Massachusetts. Just as Brown thinks he can resist the devil and emerge from his hiding place, he hears a scream that sounds like Faith’s, and a pink ribbon fl utters to his feet.

From this point on, Brown himself becomes a grotesque figure, throwing himself with wholehearted if somewhat hysterical and despairing eagerness into the center of the darkness illuminated by the blazing fires of the meeting, clearly an image of hell. He recognizes all the most respected folk of the state unabashedly mingling with common thieves, prostitutes, and even criminals. The dreadful harmony of all these voices joined together in devil worship reaches a crescendo as the converts are brought forth: Among them, dimly recognized, are Brown’s father, mother, and wife. The devil assures the assembly that everyone has secretly committed crimes, from those of illicit sex to those of murdering husbands, fathers, and illegitimate babies. Indeed, says the devil, the whole earth is “one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot.” Evil, not good, he asserts, is the nature of humankind.

As do Adam and Eve, Brown and Faith stand on the edge of wickedness: Brown screams to Faith to resist the devil, and with these words the nightmare ends, Brown awakening against a rock. The narrator asks, Was his experience really a dream? Whether or not we believe in the reality of Brown’s experience; the narrator affirms that it clearly foreshadows Brown’s altered life: Henceforward he is a dour and disillusioned man who sees no good and trusts in no one. In just such a way did the Salem witch trials effectively bring about the collapse of Puritanism, yet the story resonates long afterward: We as readers understand that we are the mythical descendants of Young Goodman Brown. Why does Brown ignore Faith’s warnings? Do we interpret the tale as one of infidelity? Of Christian hypocrisy? Of colonial history? If Brown, as an American Adam, looked upon Eden and found it wanting, do we inherit his frightful knowledge? Or can we interpret it as a cautionary tale, one whose lessons can benefit us as we live our modern lives? More than a century and a half later, Hawthorne’s story continues to beguile us with its gloomy aura and subtly ambiguous theme.

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Stories

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Novels

BIBLIOGRAPHY Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” In Tales and Sketches, edited by Roy Harvey Pearce. New York: Library of America, 1982. Newman, Lea B. V. A Reader’s Guide to the Short Stories of Hawthorne. New York: Macmillan, 1979.

Share this:

Categories: Literature , Short Story

Tags: American Literature , Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , appreciation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , criticism of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , essays of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , guide of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , Nathaniel Hawthorne , notes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , plot of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , structure of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , summary of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown , themes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

Related Articles

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

76 Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne

YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN came forth at sunset, into the street of Salem village, but put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife. And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap, while she called to Goodman Brown.

“Dearest heart,” whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, “pr’y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she’s afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!”

“My love and my Faith,” replied young Goodman Brown, “of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done ‘twixt now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married!”

“Then God bless you!” said Faith, with the pink ribbons, “and may you find all well, when you come back.”

“Amen!” cried Goodman Brown. “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee.”

So they parted; and the young man pursued his way, until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him, with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons.

“Poor little Faith!” thought he, for his heart smote him. “What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! ‘twould kill her to think it. Well; she’s a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven.”

With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose. He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that, with lonely footsteps, he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.

“There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,” said Goodman Brown to himself; and he glanced fearfully behind him, as he added, “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!”

His head being turned back, he passed a crook of the road, and looking forward again, beheld the figure of a man, in grave and decent attire, seated at the foot of an old tree. He arose, at Goodman Brown’s approach, and walked onward, side by side with him.

“You are late, Goodman Brown,” said he. “The clock of the Old South was striking, as I came through Boston; and that is full fifteen minutes agone.”

“Faith kept me back awhile,” replied the young man, with a tremor in his voice, caused by the sudden appearance of his companion, though not wholly unexpected.

It was now deep dusk in the forest, and deepest in that part of it where these two were journeying. As nearly as could be discerned, the second traveller was about fifty years old, apparently in the same rank of life as Goodman Brown, and bearing a considerable resemblance to him, though perhaps more in expression than features. Still, they might have been taken for father and son. And yet, though the elder person was as simply clad as the younger, and as simple in manner too, he had an indescribable air of one who knew the world, and would not have felt abashed at the governor’s dinner-table, or in King William’s court, were it possible that his affairs should call him thither. But the only thing about him, that could be fixed upon as remarkable, was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent. This, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light.

“Come, Goodman Brown!” cried his fellow-traveller, “this is a dull pace for the beginning of a journey. Take my staff, if you are so soon weary.”

“Friend,” said the other, exchanging his slow pace for a full stop, “having kept 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.”

“Sayest thou so?” replied he of the serpent, smiling apart. “Let us walk on, nevertheless, reasoning as we go, and if I convince thee not, thou shalt turn back. We are but a little way in the forest, yet.”

“Too far, too far!” exclaimed the goodman, unconsciously resuming his walk. “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 of Brown, that ever took this path and kept–”

“Such company, thou wouldst say,” observed the elder person, interrupting his pause. “Well said, Goodman Brown! I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that’s no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip’s War. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you, for their sake.”

“If it be as thou sayest,” replied Goodman Brown, “I marvel they never spoke of these matters. Or, verily, I marvel not, seeing that the least rumor of the sort would have driven them from New England. We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness.”

“Wickedness or not,” said the traveller with the twisted staff, “I have a very general acquaintance here in New England. The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen, of divers towns, make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I, too–but these are state-secrets.”

“Can this be so!” cried Goodman Brown, with a stare of amazement at his undisturbed companion. “Howbeit, I have nothing to do with the governor and council; they have their own ways, and are no rule for a simple husbandman like me. But, were I to go on with thee, how should I meet the eye of that good old man, our minister, at Salem village? Oh, his voice would make me tremble, both Sabbath-day and lecture-day!”

Thus far, the elder traveller had listened with due gravity, but now burst into a fit of irrepressible mirth, shaking himself so violently that his snake-like staff actually seemed to wriggle in sympathy.

“Ha! ha! ha!” shouted he, again and again; then composing himself, “Well, go on, Goodman Brown, go on; but, pr’y thee, don’t kill me with laughing!”

“Well, then, to end the matter at once,” said Goodman Brown, considerably nettled, “there is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart; and I’d rather break my own!”

“Nay, if that be the case,” answered the other, “e’en go thy ways, Goodman Brown. I would not, for twenty old women like the one hobbling before us, that Faith should come to any harm.”

As he spoke, he pointed his staff at a female figure on the path, in whom Goodman Brown recognized a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser, jointly with the minister and Deacon Gookin.

“A marvel, truly, that Goody Cloyse should be so far in the wilderness, at night-fall!” said he. “But, with your leave, friend, I shall take a cut through the woods, until we have left this Christian woman behind. Being a stranger to you, she might ask whom I was consorting with, and whither I was going.”

“Be it so,” said his fellow-traveller. “Betake you to the woods, and let me keep the path.”

Accordingly, the young man turned aside, but took care to watch his companion, who advanced softly along the road, until he had come within a staff’s length of the old dame. She, meanwhile, was making the best of her way, with singular speed for so aged a woman, and mumbling some indistinct words, a prayer, doubtless, as she went. The traveller put forth his staff, and touched her withered neck with what seemed the serpent’s tail.

“The devil!” screamed the pious old lady.

“Then Goody Cloyse knows her old friend?” observed the traveller, confronting her, and leaning on his writhing stick.

“Ah, forsooth, and is it your worship, indeed?” cried the good dame. “Yea, truly is it, and in the very image of my old gossip, Goodman Brown, the grandfather of the silly fellow that now is. But–would your worship believe it?–my broomstick hath strangely disappeared, stolen, as I suspect, by that unhanged witch, Goody Cory, and that, too, when I was all anointed with the juice of smallage and cinque-foil and wolf’s-bane–”

“Mingled with fine wheat and the fat of a new-born babe,” said the shape of old Goodman Brown.

“Ah, your worship knows the recipe,” cried the old lady, cackling aloud. “So, as I was saying, being all ready for the meeting, and no horse to ride on, I made up my mind to foot it; for they tell me, there is a nice young man to be taken into communion to-night. But now your good worship will lend me your arm, and we shall be there in a twinkling.”

“That can hardly be,” answered her friend. “I may not spare you my arm, Goody Cloyse, but here is my staff, if you will.”

So saying, he threw it down at her feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to Egyptian Magi. Of this fact, however, Goodman Brown could not take cognizance. He had cast up his eyes in astonishment, and looking down again, beheld neither Goody Cloyse nor the serpentine staff, but his fellow-traveller alone, who waited for him as calmly as if nothing had happened.

“That old woman taught me my catechism!” said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.

They continued to walk onward, while the elder traveller exhorted his companion to make good speed and persevere in the path, discoursing so aptly, that his arguments seemed rather to spring up in the bosom of his auditor, than to be suggested by himself. As they went, he plucked a branch of maple, to serve for a walking-stick, and began to strip it of the twigs and little boughs, which were wet with evening dew. The moment his fingers touched them, they became strangely withered and dried up, as with a week’s sunshine. Thus the pair proceeded, at a good free pace, until suddenly, in a gloomy hollow of the road, Goodman Brown sat himself down on the stump of a tree, and refused to go any farther.

“Friend,” said he, stubbornly, “my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil, when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?”

“You will think better of this by-and-by,” said his acquaintance, composedly. “Sit here and rest yourself awhile; and when you feel like moving again, there is my staff to help you along.”

Without more words, he threw his companion the maple stick, and was as speedily out of sight, as if he had vanished into the deepening gloom. The young man sat a few moments by the road-side, applauding himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet the minister, in his morning-walk, nor shrink from the eye of good old Deacon Gookin. And what calm sleep would be his, that very night, which was to have been spent so wickedly, but purely and sweetly now, in the arms of Faith! Amidst these pleasant and praiseworthy meditations, Goodman Brown heard the tramp of horses along the road, and deemed it advisable to conceal himself within the verge of the forest, conscious of the guilty purpose that had brought him thither, though now so happily turned from it.

On came the hoof-tramps and the voices of the riders, two grave old voices, conversing soberly as they drew near. These mingled sounds appeared to pass along the road, within a few yards of the young man’s hiding-place; but owing, doubtless, to the depth of the gloom, at that particular spot, neither the travellers nor their steeds were visible. Though their figures brushed the small boughs by the way-side, it could not be seen that they intercepted, even for a moment, the faint gleam from the strip of bright sky, athwart which they must have passed. Goodman Brown alternately crouched and stood on tip-toe, pulling aside the branches, and thrusting forth his head as far as he durst, without discerning so much as a shadow. It vexed him the more, because he could have sworn, were such a thing possible, that he recognized the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin, jogging along quietly, as they were wont to do, when bound to some ordination or ecclesiastical council. While yet within hearing, one of the riders stopped to pluck a switch.

“Of the two, reverend Sir,” said the voice like the deacon’s, I had rather miss an ordination-dinner than tonight’s meeting. They tell me that some of our community are to be here from Falmouth and beyond, and others from Connecticut and Rhode-Island; besides several of the Indian powows, who, after their fashion, know almost as much deviltry as the best of us. Moreover, there is a goodly young woman to be taken into communion.”

“Mighty well, Deacon Gookin!” replied the solemn old tones of the minister. “Spur up, or we shall be late. Nothing can be done, you know, until I get on the ground.”

The hoofs clattered again, and the voices, talking so strangely in the empty air, passed on through the forest, where no church had ever been gathered, nor solitary Christian prayed. Whither, then, could these holy men be journeying, so deep into the heathen wilderness? Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree, for support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburthened with the heavy sickness of his heart. He looked up to the sky, doubting whether there really was a Heaven above him. Yet, there was the blue arch, and the stars brightening in it.

“With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” cried Goodman Brown.

While he still gazed upward, into the deep arch of the firmament, and had lifted his hands to pray, a cloud, though no wind was stirring, hurried across the zenith, and hid the brightening stars. The blue sky was still visible, except directly overhead, where this black mass of cloud was sweeping swiftly northward. Aloft in the air, as if from the depths of the cloud, came a confused and doubtful sound of voices. Once, the listener fancied that he could distinguish the accent of town’s-people of his own, men and women, both pious and ungodly, many of whom he had met at the communion-table, and had seen others rioting at the tavern. The next moment, so indistinct were the sounds, he doubted whether he had heard aught but the murmur of the old forest, whispering without a wind. Then came a stronger swell of those familiar tones, heard daily in the sunshine, at Salem village, but never, until now, from a cloud of night. There was one voice, of a young woman, uttering lamentations, yet with an uncertain sorrow, and entreating for some favor, which, perhaps, it would grieve her to obtain. And all the unseen multitude, both saints and sinners, seemed to encourage her onward.

“Faith!” shouted Goodman Brown, in a voice of agony and desperation; and the echoes of the forest mocked him, crying –“Faith! Faith!” as if bewildered wretches were seeking her, all through the wilderness.

The cry of grief, rage, and terror, was yet piercing the night, when the unhappy husband held his breath for a response. There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fading into far-off laughter, as the dark cloud swept away, leaving the clear and silent sky above Goodman Brown. But something fluttered lightly down through the air, and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon.

“My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given.”

And maddened with despair, so that he laughed loud and long, did Goodman Brown grasp his staff and set forth again, at such a rate, that he seemed to fly along the forest-path, rather than to walk or run. The road grew wilder and drearier, and more faintly traced, and vanished at length, leaving him in the heart of the dark wilderness, still rushing onward, with the instinct that guides mortal man to evil. The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds; the creaking of the trees, the howling of wild beasts, and the yell of Indians; while, sometimes the wind tolled like a distant church-bell, and sometimes gave a broad roar around the traveller, as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn. But he was himself the chief horror of the scene, and shrank not from its other horrors.

“Ha! ha! ha!” roared Goodman Brown, when the wind laughed at him. “Let us hear which will laugh loudest! Think not to frighten me with your deviltry! Come witch, come wizard, come Indian powow, come devil himself! and here comes Goodman Brown. You may as well fear him as he fear you!”

In truth, all through the haunted forest, there could be nothing more frightful than the figure of Goodman Brown. On he flew, among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter, as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous, than when he rages in the breast of man. Thus sped the demoniac on his course, until, quivering among the trees, he saw a red light before him, as when the felled trunks and branches of a clearing have been set on fire, and throw up their lurid blaze against the sky, at the hour of midnight. He paused, in a lull of the tempest that had driven him onward, and heard the swell of what seemed a hymn, rolling solemnly from a distance, with the weight of many voices. He knew the tune; it was a familiar one in the choir of the village meeting-house. The verse died heavily away, and was lengthened by a chorus, not of human voices, but of all the sounds of the benighted wilderness, pealing in awful harmony together. Goodman Brown cried out; and his cry was lost to his own ear, by its unison with the cry of the desert.

In the interval of silence, he stole forward, until the light glared full upon his eyes. At one extremity of an open space, hemmed in by the dark wall of the forest, arose a rock, bearing some rude, natural resemblance either to an altar or a pulpit, and surrounded by four blazing pines, their tops aflame, their stems untouched, like candles at an evening meeting. The mass of foliage, that had overgrown the summit of the rock, was all on fire, blazing high into the night, and fitfully illuminating the whole field. Each pendent twig and leafy festoon was in a blaze. As the red light arose and fell, a numerous congregation alternately shone forth, then disappeared in shadow, and again grew, as it were, out of the darkness, peopling the heart of the solitary woods at once.

“A grave and dark-clad company!” quoth Goodman Brown.

In truth, they were such. Among them, quivering to-and-fro, between gloom and splendor, appeared faces that would be seen, next day, at the council-board of the province, and others which, Sabbath after Sabbath, looked devoutly heavenward, and benignantly over the crowded pews, from the holiest pulpits in the land. Some affirm, that the lady of the governor was there. At least, there were high dames well known to her, and wives of honored husbands, and widows, a great multitude, and ancient maidens, all of excellent repute, and fair young girls, who trembled lest their mothers should espy them. Either the sudden gleams of light, flashing over the obscure field, bedazzled Goodman Brown, or he recognized a score of the church-members of Salem village, famous for their especial sanctity. Good old Deacon Gookin had arrived, and waited at the skirts of that venerable saint, his reverend pastor. But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see, that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints. Scattered, also, among their palefaced enemies, were the Indian priests, or powows, who had often scared their native forest with more hideous incantations than any known to English witchcraft.

“But, where is Faith?” thought Goodman Brown; and, as hope came into his heart, he trembled.

Another verse of the hymn arose, a slow and mournful strain, such as the pious love, but joined to words which expressed all that our nature can conceive of sin, and darkly hinted at far more. Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends. Verse after verse was sung, and still the chorus of the desert swelled between, like the deepest tone of a mighty organ. And, with the final peal of that dreadful anthem, there came a sound, as if the roaring wind, the rushing streams, the howling beasts, and every other voice of the unconverted wilderness, were mingling and according with the voice of guilty man, in homage to the prince of all. The four blazing pines threw up a loftier flame, and obscurely discovered shapes and visages of horror on the smoke-wreaths, above the impious assembly. At the same moment, the fire on the rock shot redly forth, and formed a glowing arch above its base, where now appeared a figure. With reverence be it spoken, the figure bore no slight similitude, both in garb and manner, to some grave divine of the New-England churches.

“Bring forth the converts!” cried a voice, that echoed through the field and rolled into the forest.

At the word, Goodman Brown stepped forth from the shadow of the trees, and approached the congregation, with whom he felt a loathful brotherhood, by the sympathy of all that was wicked in his heart. He could have well nigh sworn, that the shape of his own dead father beckoned him to advance, looking downward from a smoke-wreath, while a woman, with dim features of despair, threw out her hand to warn him back. Was it his mother? But he had no power to retreat one step, nor to resist, even in thought, when the minister and good old Deacon Gookin seized his arms, and led him to the blazing rock. Thither came also the slender form of a veiled female, led between Goody Cloyse, that pious teacher of the catechism, and Martha Carrier, who had received the devil’s promise to be queen of hell. A rampant hag was she! And there stood the proselytes, beneath the canopy of fire.

“Welcome, my children,” said the dark figure, “to the communion of your race! Ye have found, thus young, your nature and your destiny. My children, look behind you!”

They turned; and flashing forth, as it were, in a sheet of flame, the fiend-worshippers were seen; the smile of welcome gleamed darkly on every visage.

“There,” resumed the sable form, “are all whom ye have reverenced from youth. Ye deemed them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your own sin, contrasting it with their lives of righteousness, and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet, here are they all, in my worshipping assembly! This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds; how hoary-bearded elders of the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a woman, eager for widow’s weeds, has given her husband a drink at bed-time, and let him sleep his last sleep in her bosom; how beardless youth have made haste to inherit their father’s wealth; and how fair damsels–blush not, sweet ones–have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole guest, to an infant’s funeral. By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin, ye shall scent out all the places–whether in church, bed-chamber, street, field, or forest–where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood-spot. Far more than this! It shall be yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts, and which inexhaustibly supplies more evil impulses than human power–than my power at its utmost!–can make manifest in deeds. And now, my children, look upon each other.”

They did so; and, by the blaze of the hell-kindled torches, the wretched man beheld his Faith, and the wife her husband, trembling before that unhallowed altar.

“Lo! there ye stand, my children,” said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. “Depending upon one another’s hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream! Now are ye undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!”

“Welcome!” repeated the fiend-worshippers, in one cry of despair and triumph.

And there they stood, the only pair, as it seemed, who were yet hesitating on the verge of wickedness, in this dark world. A basin was hollowed, naturally, in the rock. Did it contain water, reddened by the lurid light? or was it blood? or, perchance, a liquid flame? Herein did the Shape of Evil dip his hand, and prepare to lay the mark of baptism upon their foreheads, that they might be partakers of the mystery of sin, more conscious of the secret guilt of others, both in deed and thought, than they could now be of their own. The husband cast one look at his pale wife, and Faith at him. What polluted wretches would the next glance show them to each other, shuddering alike at what they disclosed and what they saw!

“Faith! Faith!” cried the husband. “Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!”

Whether Faith obeyed, he knew not. Hardly had he spoken, when he found himself amid calm night and solitude, listening to a roar of the wind, which died heavily away through the forest. He staggered against the rock, and felt it chill and damp, while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew.

The next morning, young Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem village, staring around him like a bewildered man. The good old minister was taking a walk along the graveyard, to get an appetite for breakfast and meditate his sermon, and bestowed a blessing, as he passed, on Goodman Brown. He shrank from the venerable saint, as if to avoid an anathema. Old Deacon Gookin was at domestic worship, and the holy words of his prayer were heard through the open window. “What God doth the wizard pray to?” quoth Goodman Brown. Goody Cloyse, that excellent old Christian, stood in the early sunshine, at her own lattice, catechising a little girl, who had brought her a pint of morning’s milk. Goodman Brown snatched away the child, as from the grasp of the fiend himself. Turning the corner by the meeting-house, he spied the head of Faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such joy at sight of him, that she skipt along the street, and almost kissed her husband before the whole village. But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting.

Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?

Be it so, if you will. But, alas! it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream. On the Sabbath-day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen, because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear, and drowned all the blessed strain. When the minister spoke from the pulpit, with power and fervid eloquence, and with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers. Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, 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. And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, followed by Faith, an aged woman, and children and grand-children, a goodly procession, besides neighbors, not a few, they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom.

This work ( Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne) is free of known copyright restrictions.

Share This Book

Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel hawthorne, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The Hypocrisy of Puritanism

Hawthorne sets “Young Goodman Brown” in the New England town of Salem, where the Puritans tried to create a religious society with strict morals and pious norms, but also where the infamous Witch Trials took place. The Puritans believed that some people are predestined by God to go to heaven, and that those people are identifiable by their morality and piousness; people cannot earn their way to heaven by performing good works, but if they…

Losing Faith and Innocence

“Young Goodman Brown” is the story of how a young “good” man named Goodman Brown loses his innocent belief in religious faith. Goodman Brown’s loss of innocence happens during a vivid nightmare in which he ventures into a dark forest and sees all of the people he had considered faithful in his life gathered around a fire at a witches’ conversion ceremony with the devil presiding from on high. By the end of his journey…

Nature and the Supernatural

Hawthorne uses the forest to represent the wild fearful world of nature, which contrasts starkly with the pious orderly town of Salem. The threshold Goodman Brown finds himself perched upon in the opening lines of the story is not just between himself and his wife, Faith , but between the safety of the town and the haunted realm of the forest into which he ventures. Home is a safe harbor of faith, but the forest…

Saints vs. Sinners

The Puritan religion dictated that everyone on earth was either an evil sinner doomed to burn in hell or a pure earthly saint destined for heaven. To avoid being perceived as anything but wholly good, Goodman Brown (who, like his wife, Faith , is also “aptly named”) is obsessed with the idea of veiling his own sinfulness. Goodman Brown’s paranoia as he navigates the forest, dodging behind trees in terror of being outed as a…

Family and Individual Choice

Young Goodman Brown makes reference to many generations of the Brown family, both Goodman Brown’s ancestors and his descendants. Goodman Brown must choose whether to follow his ancestors’ example, for better or for worse, or whether to make his own decisions and break away from family tradition. The tragedy of the story is that he is unable to choose: he loses faith in following family tradition, but he can’t reject his family and start new…

ENG 1002 Writing Resources | R. Rambo Home Page

English Composition 2

Student essay on nathaniel hawthorne's "young goodman brown".

(The original essay included a "Work Cited" page, which is not reproduced here, and the original essay was formatted properly: double-spaced, with the first lines of paragraphs indented and no extra spaces between paragraphs.)

Test of One Man's Faith

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown," {1} the author uses mystery and suspense to hold the attention of the reader. From the beginning to the end of the story, Hawthorne leads the reader into asking the question, "what does all of this witchcraft, mysticism, and the double-sided lifestyles of the characters actually mean?" The reader must not look at "Young Goodman Brown" as just a suspenseful story but also see the many forms of symbolism the author uses. Hawthorne shows that a strong faith is the greatest asset of a man or woman, and when that faith is compromised, the effects of this can cause one to be filled with doubt and cynicism toward the rest of the world. {2}

Goodman Brown does show he has a strong faith before he enters the forest and sometimes during his journey to the black mass. {3} Hawthorne uses the very name of Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, as a symbol of Goodman Brown's own faith throughout the story. Goodman Brown's strong faith can be seen through the initial description of Faith: "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap" (140). {4} Hawthorne suggests she is pure and innocent, as is Goodman Brown's own faith. Also, the reassuring replies Goodman Brown gives to Faith suggest that his faith cannot be weakened: "'Amen!' Cried Goodman Brown. 'Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee'" (140). Goodman Brown sets off on his journey with a strong will and an "excellent resolve for the future" (141), and he "felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose" (141). Although he knows he is about to partake in a sinful act, Goodman Brown's belief in his faith will bring him home safely and untainted. Goodman Brown also shows he believes in his faith while he ventures through the forest when the dark figure urges Goodman Brown to go with him. Goodman Brown replies, "'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" refer to his good faith. After the dark figure tells Goodman Brown about all of the evil acts he has performed, Goodman Brown exclaims, "'there is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart: and I'd rather break my own'" (142). Again Hawthorne uses the name Faith to symbolize Goodman Brown's faith, and he lets the reader know Goodman Brown would rather die than give up his faith. Upon seeing the town minister and Deacon Gookin riding to the black mass, Goodman Brown once again shows his faith is strong when he cries, "'With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil'" (144). {5}

The characters Goodman Brown sees on his journey through the forest and his experience at the black Sabbath are what cause his faith to wane. {6} When Goodman Brown is initially approached by the dark figure in the forest and is told he is late, Goodman Brown replies, "Faith kept me back awhile" (141). Again the name of his wife symbolizes Goodman Brown's own faith and shows he had to compromise it to even start into the forest. Goodman Brown sees many characters making their way toward the meeting place and is surprised to see that many of them are people of great stature, both in the religious and governmental society. Here, Hawthorne shows that all people are sinners no matter how they may appear outwardly or what position they hold in society. First, Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse. She is described by Hawthorne as "a very pious and exemplary dame" (142). Goodman Brown cannot believe Goody Cloyse would be out in the dark forest because she had taught him his catechism. The catechism is the initial schooling of the Bible in the Christian religion. This suggests Goodman Brown's faith is beginning to weaken {7} because seeing Goody Cloyse shows the foundation of his faith is weak. Although Goodman Brown attempts to keep his good faith when he sees the town minister and Deacon Gookin, he shows his faith is weakened 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" (144). When he finds the pink ribbon of his wife in the forest, Goodman Brown's faith is weakened even further. Again Goodman Brown's wife is used as a symbol of his own faith: "'My Faith is gone!' Cried he, after one stupefied moment. 'There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name. Come devil! For to thee is this world given'" (145). At the black mass, Goodman Brown is astonished at the number of people he sees. And even though they are people he once recognized as God-fearing church members and respected members of the town, he sees they are actually sinners, and he describes them as "'A grave and dark-clad company'" (146). He asks himself, "'But where is Faith'" (146). He now believes there is no good in the world but only evil, and his faith is almost completely destroyed. {8}

After Goodman Brown returns from the forest, he has little faith left, and this causes him to see everything in his environment as evil, sinful, and hypocritical. {9} The preacher at the pulpit, Goody Cloyse teaching the catechism, Faith's expressions of love toward him, and everything else that Goodman Brown held with high esteem seem to have become worthless. Goodman Brown shows he has some faith by attending church, but he only feels the wretchedness of the congregation's sinfulness and hypocrisy: "On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen, because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear, and drowned all the blessed strain" (148). When Hawthorne writes, "Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith" (148), again, the name of Goodman Brown's wife is used as a reference to Goodman Brown's faith. This passage suggests Goodman Brown still has some faith remaining but his knowledge of the darkness in the world causes him to once again withdraw from the rest of the world. {10} Even though he lives a long life with Faith and has children and grand-children, it is apparent Goodman Brown never loses his spitefulness toward society and the evil in the world, "for his dying hour was gloom" (148). {11}

Hawthorne only uses the magnitude of the journey through the forest and the black mass as a representation of all the sin and evil which surrounds us in this world. Goodman Brown still seems to have faith in his own moral beliefs, but he has lost his faith in the rest of the world to hold these beliefs. Goodman Brown's own lack of faith in the world has made him unforgiving because he believes only evil can be begotten from evil and there is nothing that can be done to change it. Rather than seeing the good in people and their actions and forgiving their sins, Goodman Brown only frowns upon them and believes people to be hypocrites. In all reality, it is Goodman Brown who is the hypocrite because he believes he can pass judgment on those who sin, yet he does not take his own sins into consideration. "'You have heard though it was said, "you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy" 'but I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust'" (Mat. 5. 43-45). {12} The point Hawthorne is making in this story is all people are sinners, and we must not hate people for there sins but hate the sins and love the sinners. Goodman Brown's loss of faith has blinded him from seeing this. {13}

Page copyright Randy Rambo , 2019. Essay copyright of the author.

Teaching "Young Goodman Brown" in High School: Summary & Teaching Ideas

• Trent Lorcher
• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

“Young Goodman Brown” is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This allegory makes a great teaching subject for High School students. Trying to find a lesson plan and winding up with nothing? Read this collection of teaching ideas.

Summary of the Story

Young Goodman Brown plans a late night excursion into the forest, much to the protestations of his wife, Faith. He is filled with regret and doubts, which, however, do not stop his journey into the forest, which by the way, was the devil’s domain in Puritan literature (of course, everything was the devil’s domain in Puritan literature).

Young Goodman Brown meets a man sitting on a tree stump, who we can presume is the devil (note to reader: if the devil joins you on your journey, you’re probably headed in the wrong direction). YGB is shocked to discover his father and his grandfather have journeyed once upon a time into the forest. He is even more shocked to discover some of Salem’s more prominent citizens–Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, and the town minister– have communed with the devil. In fact, everyone has communed with the devil, even Faith.

He begs Faith to resist and poof, YGB wakes up, uncertain whether the entire incident were a dream.

Unable to withstand his loss of innocence, YGB dies a bitter old man.

Suggested Teaching Ideas

Explain that an allegory is a story in which everything is a symbol. An allegory has two meanings: a literal one and a symbolic one. The symbolic meaning contains moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas, such as charity, greed, or envy. Allegorical symbols in “Young Goodman Brown” are straightforward– Faith, Young Goodman, The Forest, The Old Man in the Forest, The Dark Path , for example.

Create a chart: (1) in the left hand column, list symbols in “Young Goodman Brown; (2) in the right hand column, write what these symbols mean. The symbolic explanations should be more than just one or two words. Students should explain symbolic interpretations in complete sentences.

• For example, Faith represents YGB’s faith, which he chooses to abandon to go on his journey. It also represents the general abandonment of faith in which all humans participate, even the more righteous among us. The fact that Faith herself participates in the devil’s ceremony indicates that the predominant faith in Salem Village has been corrupted by the devil, further evidenced by the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the connection between Hawthorne’s ancestor’s participation in the trials (OK, they don’t need quite that much of an explanation, but you get the point).
• A study of American Romanticism helps neophyte literary scholars understand the story better. As students read, instruct them to identify (1) examples of the supernatural; (2) the idealization of women; (3) an impulse toward reform (perhaps the church in Salem needs reformed; after all the Deacon and the minister have a pact with the devil); (4) a celebration of individualism (keep in mind that Young Goodman’s Brown reliance on the goodness of others and not self reliance causes his downfall).
• Instruct students to imitate Hawthorne’s story by writing their own folk tale: the story could have the same theme but with different symbols and setting or it could be a parody of Hawthorne’s.

Sample Outline for an Essay on the Moral of the Story

Use this outline to give you essay ideas for your students:

I. Introduction

A. Capture the reader’s attention and lead into the thesis statement - You may want to briefly discuss allegory.

B. Write the thesis statement at the end of the introduction ( Find excellent thesis statement writing tips ) - The thesis statement must include the moral of “Young Goodman Brown.” Sample Thesis Statements:

1. Young Goodman Brown’s loss of innocence symbolizes the loss of innocence for all humans.

2. Once you abandon Faith, it’s difficult to regain it.

II. Body Paragraph #1 - Topic Sentence. The topic sentence should support the thesis statement (this is based on thesis statement #2). My example - Although Young Goodman Brown is free to abandon Faith, he is not free to choose the consequences.

A. Fact from the Story - YGB consciously chooses evil over Faith.

1. Analysis, Insight, or Interpretation - The analysis must explain how the fact supports the topic sentence.

2. More Analysis, Insight, or Interpretation - The analysis must explain how the fact supports the topic sentence.

B. Fact from the Story - YGB sees many righteous people journeying in the forest.

2. More Analysis, Insight, or Interpretation - The analysis must explain how the fact supports the topic sentence - You definitely need to mention that what YGB sees as a result of his choice causes him to lose his Faith and his innocence.

III. Body Paragraph # 2 - Topic Sentence - The topic sentence should support the thesis statement. My example - The ultimate consequence of YGB’s decision is a complete loss of Faith.

A. Fact from the Story - YGB spots Faith at the devil’s communion.

2. More Analysis, Insight, or Interpretation - The analysis must explain how the fact supports the topic sentence - You definitely need to mention YGB’s encounter with his wife and its ramifications. You should probably tie it in to YGB’s claim that he will resolve to do better (at the beginning of the story) after his ill intended journey into the forest.

IV. Conclusion - Tie it up.

The Symbolism of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ Explained

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Young Goodman Brown’ is an 1835 short story by the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Inspired in part by the Salem witch craze of 1692, the story contains a number of powerful symbols. But how should we analyse the symbolism of the story?

Let’s take a closer look at the most important symbols in ‘Young Goodman Brown’. But first, a brief reminder of the story’s plot:

In the village of Salem, a young man named Goodman Brown leaves home one night to honour his promise to meet with a man, although he experiences misgivings about keeping the appointment. After meeting a number of his fellow villagers as he journeys through the woods, Goodman Brown eventually comes to a clearing where a witches’ sabbath is taking place. Among the sabbath is his own wife, Faith.

The next morning, he sees the same villagers he had witnessed the night before, but now they are carrying on with their ordinary, upstanding lives. Goodman Brown becomes withdrawn from the community, and even starts to doubt whether what he witnessed actually took place, or whether it was all a dream.

Symbolism of Thresholds.

‘Young Goodman Brown’ begins with Goodman Brown setting forth from his home but pausing, ‘after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife.’ This casual reference to the threshold of the Browns’ household ushers in a number of liminal spaces and times in the story: it is ‘sunset’ (the threshold between day and night) when Brown leaves home, and what he experiences in the liminal space of the wood is, in many ways, a troubling of the boundary between dream and reality.

Pink Hair Ribbons.

Faith’s pink hair ribbons suggest her innocence. When we first meet her at home, she is allowing the wind to play with her pink ribbons: a symbol of carefree youth and playfulness, or a sign that she is wayward and prone to being manipulated? Later, when her husband sees one of her pink ribbons in the wood, he exclaims, ‘My Faith is gone!’: a phrase which obviously carries a double meaning here. After this moment, the (lost) pink ribbon symbolises Faith’s lost innocence.

Snake Symbolism.

Early on in the story, when Goodman Brown meets the old man carrying a staff, Hawthorne gives us a clue that all is not all as it seems:

But the only thing about him that could be fixed upon as remarkable was his staff, which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent. This, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light.

Snakes have a longstanding association with deceit, temptation, and evil: it was the serpent in the Garden of Eden which tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the Forbidden Fruit, thus bringing about the Fall of Man. According to a later tradition (the Bible never actually mentions this detail), the serpent was Satan in disguise, and of course, when Goody Cloyse recognises the old man, she identifies him as ‘the Devil’ himself.

This passage also gives us one of the first clues that the story’s details are ambiguous. Is the appearance of the staff as a ‘living serpent’ really just a trick of the eye or ‘ocular deception’? Or is there something truly supernatural going on? Or is this an early sign that Young Goodman Brown’s mind is unsound and he is ‘seeing things’?

The Old Man.

Note that the old man whom Goody Cloyse later claims is ‘the Devil’ is ‘about fifty years old, apparently in the same rank of life as Goodman Brown, and bearing a considerable resemblance to him, though perhaps more in expression than features.’

Is this old man a foreshadowing of what Old Goodman Brown will be like? It is notable that the two men’s faces bear a similar expression: perhaps the mark that evil leaves upon the face.

Symbolism of Salem.

The historic town of Salem in Massachusetts is synonymous with witchcraft, because of the notorious Salem witch trials which took place there in 1692-93. They are called ‘witch trials’ but really the event was a form of mass hysteria which saw neighbour turn upon neighbour, and the authorities of Salem indulge the hearsay of a group of teenagers.

During this short period of hysteria, 141 people were arrested and 19 were hanged; another was crushed to death. Hawthorne’s story taps into the air of superstition but also religious hypocrisy surrounding seventeenth-century Salem. This was a culture Hawthorne knew well, and one of his ancestors, John Hathorne, was even involved in the witch trials at Salem.

One can allow evil to taint one’s soul by purporting to stand against it: many people, including those involved in the Salem trials, have committed terrible acts against other human beings but have considered themselves ‘good’ people because they are convinced they have right on their side.

Symbolism of Character Names.

Many of the names in the story are charged with symbolism, too. ‘Goodman’ was a polite term of address in Puritan New England, and served the same function as ‘Mister’. But of course, in a story which is about the nature of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, Brown’s epithet takes on an added significance. Is he a ‘good man’ for resisting the witches’ sabbath, or has he still allowed himself to become corrupted by evil so that it will destroy the rest of his and his wife’s lives together?

Calling Goodman Brown’s wife ‘Faith’ is an inspired touch, because this was a popular woman’s name among Puritans, but it resonates with obviously symbolic significance in this story about faith and sin. When Goodman Brown exclaims, ‘My Faith is gone!’, the symbolism of Brown’s wife’s name becomes more manifest.

‘Young Goodman Brown’ as Allegory.

For these reasons, Hawthorne’s story is often interpreted as an allegory about religious faith. Brown symbolically as well as literally leaves his ‘Faith’ behind when he ignores his wife’s entreaties and leaves home for the night to go into the dark, mysterious wood.

When he renounces his ‘faith’ in this way, he makes himself susceptible to the powerful lure of evil, and even though he may rediscover his ‘Faith’ later on, it has been changed – and tainted – forever.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

1 thought on “The Symbolism of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ Explained”

• Pingback: A Summary and Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’ – Interesting Literature

Comments are closed.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

“Young Goodman Brown,” “Heart of Darkness”: Analysis Annotated Bibliography

Annotated bibliography.

Hurley, Paul J. “Young Goodman Brown’s” Heart of Darkness”.” American Literature , vol. 37, no. 4, 1966, pp. 410-419.

Drawing parallels between two different narratives belonging to the same author is a common approach to critiquing them; however, in his analysis of Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown,’ Paul J. Hurley takes a unique approach to the specified technique, claiming that Hawthorne’s story is imbued with the ideas that would appear in another famous short story by a different author, Joseph Conrad, several decades later. Stating that the character of Goodman Brown is significantly more dimensional than it is represented in the surface in the story, Hurley asserts that young Goodman Brown’s darkness hides within him, which makes the character all the more compelling and the message significantly more nuanced and palatable.

The author’s ability to draw connections between two seemingly underrated narratives doubtlessly is one of the main advantages of the article. Hurley offers a unique perspective on the titular character, thus, reinventing his persona and challenging the existing interpretation thereof. As a result, the paper benefits from an original and quite plausible argument (Hurley 411). However, several disadvantages, such as the lack of supporting evidence that would have made the statements significantly stronger should not be denied, either. Furthermore, the paper would have been even more convincing and impressive f alternative points of view had been included.

Nevertheless, even with its minor discrepancies, the paper serves as a perfect foil for further research. Specifically, the author’s conclusions regarding the character of young Goodman Brown, particularly him being entirely oblivious about his gradual reconciliation with his evil side. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of the protagonist becomes possible, with a close focus on societal, cultural, and personal factors that motivate him. Therefore, the article should be considered a crucial contribution to further study.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, August 24). "Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/young-goodman-browns-heart-of-darkness-analysis/

""Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis." IvyPanda , 24 Aug. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/young-goodman-browns-heart-of-darkness-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '"Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis'. 24 August.

IvyPanda . 2023. ""Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis." August 24, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/young-goodman-browns-heart-of-darkness-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . ""Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis." August 24, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/young-goodman-browns-heart-of-darkness-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""Young Goodman Brown," "Heart of Darkness": Analysis." August 24, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/young-goodman-browns-heart-of-darkness-analysis/.

• Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”: Facing the Darkness
• The Play "Fifth of July" by Lanford Wilson
• Young Goodman Brown. Puritanism and Hawthorne [Analysis]
• "The Rhetoric & Poetics of Aristotle" Book
• Patriarchy and Masculinity in Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”
• Food Security, Improved Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture
• The Last Grain Collection Book by Lev Kopelev
• “Situating the Self: Gender, Community, and Postmodernism in Contemporary Ethics”