Analysis of “Young Goodman Brown” The story begins with Young Goodman Brown as
he is introduced saying goodbye to his wife, Faith, whose name is suggested in the text to
play the symbolic role of Goodman’s religious faith. He tells her that he must reluctantly
go on a journey but will return in the morning. Towards the end of the story, the narrator
says “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he
become from the night of that fearful dream.” (Hawthorne #). The details from this
sentence show how greatly the journey had changed Goodman’s faith. As he begins his
journey he is encountered with a man who was expecting him and is later revealed to be
the devil. When asked why he was delayed Goodman responded, “Faith kept me back a
while” (Hawthorne #). This is literal as well as figurative; his wife delays his journey, and
his religious faith deters him from the path of sin. As the story progresses, Goodman
experiences an inner struggle in going back, but is led little by little deep in the forest by
the devil. Details in the story imply that Goodman’s faith is, to an extent, reliant on the
people he respects the most which include, his ancestors, Goody Cloyse, his catechism
teacher, Deacon Gookin, the minister, and his wife, Faith. Goodman’s faith is gradually
worn down by a series of events throughoutthe journey that make the people whom he
most respects to fall from his grace. In a change in the setting of the story, Goodman’s final
