Pace 1
Taylor Pace
American Literature 2326
Mrs. Johnson
1 December 2013
Young Goodman Brown
Young Goodman Brown written by Nathaniel Hawthorne published in 1835 was based
on a Puritan ran New England back when puritanism was in its prime. The story is set in the
Salem Village which is the same village that all the accusations and multiple executions of
women took place who was presumed to be witches. The story talks about a character called
Young Goodman Brown whom has a wife named Faith, which literally means his faith that he
has in society and the religion he believes in. In the short story, Gooodman Brown has a dream in
which he is in a dark gloomy forest, while he is walking he runs into a man, there is nothing
unordinary about the man except for the walking stick he possesses. Nathaniel Hawthorne
describes the staff saying “it 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 (pp. 621).” The man, who
actually represents the devil, acts like he knows Goodman Browns family and his wife Faith, the
man then asks Goodman Brown to join him for the ceremony that he is having in the woods. He
hands Goodman Brown the staff and Brown is hesitant to decide whether he wants to go to the
ceremony. He eventually decides to attend the ceremony and when he gets there people are
telling him that a girl is supposed to be taken into communion. Goodman notices when she
unveils her face that it is his wife Faith and he screams “My Faith is gone!” (Young Goodman
Brown- pp. 625). After he sees that everyone from his town and even his own wife partake in
the devils worshipping Goodman Brown no longer believes in any of his religious beliefs and is
said to have died a bitter man.
Pace 2
Hawthorne attempts to teach everyone who reads this short story a lesson and the lesson
that he is trying to teach in my opinion is the fact that people need to forgive other people for
doing wrong. Evil is in everyone if someone says to you that they have never sinned in their
entire life that is just an outright lie. There is no way that people can be morally perfect. Even if
you think about doing something to someone it is a sin. Forgiveness is the lesson that Hawthorne
tries to instill in the reader as he or she reads “Young Goodman Brown.” Of course the reader
has no idea if Goodman Brown was dreaming or if the events he saw ever took place. Whatever
Goodman Brown saw that night whether it was a dream, hallucinations, or reality changed his
whole outlook on life. That event made him lose faith in all of humanity because he was a
puritan, and too see everyone in your town including one of the town ministers and your own
wife worshipping the evil deeds of the devil, that is going to have some long term effects on you.
