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Giang Pham
Professor Loubser
ENGL 1302
October 5th, 2017
Sinful Nature And The Collapse Of Mankind
“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a story about a young New
England man, Goodman Brown, who leaves his new wife to partake in a journey into the forest
with the devil, but finally finds all his friends, neighbors, as well as his wife, attending the evil
meeting. The story ends up with Goodman Brown returning to the town, losing all his faith in
people, and becoming a dark man. Through the story, Hawthorne implies the idea that humanity
is sinful: evil is the nature of mankind, even Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown obviously
possesses the sinful nature which leads him into the forest. However, there are three times in the
story where Goodman Browns seems to hesitate over whether to continue the journey. Whenever
Goodman Brown demonstrates his reluctance to meet with the devil, which represents his
propensity to sin, he always defeats the hesitation, which represents his malevolent nature. While
initially Goodman Brown’s hesitation may signify the existence of good, his failure to resist the
Devil’s temptation exemplifies his inherently malevolent nature.
Brown’s departure from Faith to partake in a journey into the forest with the devil
signifies his loss of virtue. His malevolent nature appears for the first time in the story through
his response to Faith’s insisting, “Of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from
thee. My journey…must needs be done ‘twixt now and sunrise’” (Hawthorne 1). Goodman
Brown emphasizes the necessary of conducting the journey by using the word “must” twice at a
time shows how sure it is that he will go to the forest no matter what. Brown’s choice to follow
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his propensity to sin instead of listening to Faith demonstrates his inherent sinful nature. His
wife, Faith, is described as “blessed angel on earth” (Hawthorne 1). She represents for Brown’s
virtue and faith. Goodman Brown idolizes Faith so much that even he is about to leave, he still
“…put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young
wife” (Hawthorne 1). The moment he “crossing the threshold” (Hawthorne 1), even though he
does “put his head back…to exchange a parting kiss” (Hawthorne 1) with Faith, he obviously
crosses the border between his virtue, which is illustrated by Faith standing behind, and his sin,
which is the journey ahead. By leaving Faith, Goodman Brown obviously passes his virtue to
join with the Devil.
The forest and Devil appear in the story as the manifestation of Brown’s inherent
malevolent nature. When he sets the very first footsteps into the forest, he officially walks into
