Young

A detailed Summary of Young

This idea is the root by which all children of Puritan faith learned where they stood in the eyes of their God. They discovered very young that they were unworthy of the Grace of God. If they were to be saved it would only be if God predetermined their fate. This led them to the belief that they must resist sin and temptation in their everyday lives to have any chance at keeping in the Grace of God, should they be chosen for redemption of their original sin.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's allegorical tale, "Young Goodman Brown" served as a stark criticism of his ancestor's beliefs and the doctrines of Puritanism. He reveals, through Brown's journey, how this dark view of life could lead to mistrust of oneself, and of those around one.

The "good man's" expedition begins with him departing as the sun sets, "crossing the threshold"(1236) leaving his wife, Faith. Her name is obvious symbolism that Hawthorne wanted all readers to immediately notice. Against her wishes and pleas, Brown ignores Faith and continues onto his journey without a second thought.

The journey Brown departs for somewhat parallels the journey that every Puritan

must take towards righteousness. Known historically as the Journey t

Hawthorne now presents the reader with the most difficult to swallow fact about the Calvinist following. Brown believes that he can do wrong and then return to his faith, a belief that would not appear for generations to come. According to the Puritan doctrine, now that Brown has once doubted his faith, he has forever denied it. Even from the smallest sin, there is no way to repent or make good again. Hawthorne presents this idea by placing Brown's wife among the devil worshippers. Faith is gone and he resolves that he can never get her [it] back. There is no mercy from God and, therefore, never will he "cling to Faith's skirts and follow her to heaven"(1236). In fact, we find out later that Brown dies before his wife, a concise representation of his loss of beliefs.

Perhaps seeing the point made, Brown continues, an early signal of his lack of faith, and encounters his own teacher of catechism, Goody Cloyse. Brown, having seen his own religious teacher in an evil setting, begins to see the devil's "truth" that all Puritans must be in some way evil, or hiding it.

Hawthorne's assertion is that this confusion is the only possible outcome of Puritan belief. To mistrust yourself, others, and your own thoughts cannot create a stable faith.

Predictably, that is the very thing Brown does.

Puritanism required their followers to doubt themselves so much that, according to

"Had Goodman Brown fallen a

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 954
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion