Young Goodman Brown

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Out of all Hawthorne's tales, Young Goodman Brown is my favorite. Something about his struggles to overcome the Devil yet be so tempted by him rings true of our lives today. He knows and states that going on this journey is not the right thing to do. But, he does it just this last time because he has made "excellent resolve for the future" (Hawthorne). He thinks because he made a vow for next time, he can sin just one more time and it be fine. As we know at the end, this last time changes his life.
And how ironic is it that his wife's name is Faith, when Brown himself, is basically on a journey to forget his faith? Pursuing this journey throughout the night only gets Brown into more and more trouble. The "Faith" he thought he had in his wife, and in God is completely gone. Brown falls completely into the scheme the devil played on him. I think this story is a good example of what it is to have weak faith and then how easy it is to succumb to the lies that Satan feeds us. It is when Brown hears his fellow towns-people, the holy people, at the devil gathering, is he finally able to give in and not resist anymore. I think it was easy for him to think that since they were doing it, he could as well. His decision to give in is what ultimately ruins his life. He can no longer see the good in the world because he assumes everyone around him are liars and cheats and devil worshippers. The devil ruined Brown's ability to trust and believe in people.

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Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 6, 2017 at 8:40 PM

    I've never read this story before now, but I perceived him as pushing further away from this wickedness the further into the forest he went. I say this because there are multiple times where he wants to stop walking and at one point he does. Then, when he gets up to go see what's happening, he gets to the meeting and is intrigued yet appalled by it. I felt like his telling Faith to look to heaven in the last moments of the meeting were an indication of his rejection of this wickedness as well.

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  2. Michael TurnerNovember 6, 2017 at 9:21 PM

    The struggle he faces definitely rings with today's world. We try so hard to fight off certain temptations while allowing ourselves to give in just for the "experience." That is the devil's greatest lie. "Just one try. Oh, come on; one more. Ha! Now your soul is mine." Goodman fights so hard to the very end only to see that everyone else he tried to impress with his religious appearance had already been lost. Likewise, so many people today will stay individuals until the group takes the first step. Classic peer pressure at it's best.

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  3. Phillip VoNovember 6, 2017 at 11:55 PM

    I definitely agree with you, and think that this story has much symbolic and allegorical meaning. Hawthorne lays out almost a similar tale of what it is like for "family raised" christians, and Goodman Brown basically fits the bible belt christian who was raised in the church.

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