Young Goodman Brown
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown", the characters in the story bear much symbolic significance. The main character, Goodman Brown, is an immature man who feels the need to test his faith by taking a journey through the forest. His going into the woods, however, is a misguided test of his faith because his entire faith is founded too much in human frailty. He puts all of his beliefs in the way his Puritan community behaves, thinking that their actions should reflect his faith. Hawthorne is perhaps suggesting that faith, which is anything other than deeply personal, is not faith at all.Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin are representatives of Brown's faith because supposedly they are people of God. Goodman Brown thinks that everyone in his village was free from sin, especially those who dedicated their lives to the teachings of God. Goody Cloyse was the lady who taught Goodman Brown his catechism; she was for him the reflection of his faith when he was a child. When Goodman Brown sees her in the forest, he becomes blind to reality and does not want to believe that she may have some connections with the devil; in fact he reinforces his m
Brown also puts stock in the actions of his ancestors. He believes that his grandfather and father never had to prove that they could resist the devil because they were honest and religious men who never committed any harmful sin. Brown puts his ancestors on a pedestal, glorifying them for being excellent Christians. However, the old man crashes Goodman Brown's idealistic views of his ancestors when the old man confesses, "I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans." The old man describes to Brown every evil action that each one of his ancestors committed, thus leaving Brown in a state of shock, but still not wanting to believe the old man for the sake of his faith. When Goodman Brown is convinced that in fact all the people he admires are devil worshippers, he goes back to the one person who would never deceive him, his beautiful wife, Faith. His wife Faith is the only element that could keep him from losing his faith because he views her as "a blessed angel." Even though he becomes doubtful of his beliefs, he knows he could still fight the devil because he says, "With heaven above, and Faith below,
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 776
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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