FREE ESSAY ON THE YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN (WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL MY PARAGRAPHS?)

THE YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN (WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL MY PARAGRAPHS?)

Ravi B. Lucas
April 11, 2000
The Young GoodMan Brown
Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is rich in metaphors which
ultimately question the very morals and ethics of his religious society. In Young Goodman
Brown, Goodman Brown is a proud Puritan who meets with the devil that causes him to
become aware of the society he lives in. The story about Goodman Brown centers on a proud
man who thinks that a meeting with the Devil can't alter his faith in religion. He also
desires to find more about his inner domains, but eventually finds out how hypocritical
his community is. The story's crux is based upon religious metaphors of Hawthorne's town
of Salem during their religious conflict. 
The beginning of the story mentions the Goodman's wife, Faith who has a double meaning to
her name. Goodman's name also should not be overlooked because it is a double-edged sword
as well. Hawthorne plays with Faith's name in that it symbolizes religious faith. Faith-
Goodman's wife- is seen as a pious woman who like Goodman, is deep into her religious
beliefs. She is innocent like her religion. To indicate Faith's innocence, Hawthorne gave
her pink ribbons to wear. These ribbons are important, because they expose Faith's
character. Pink is seen as a pleasant color that promotes no tension. Pink is not as
violent as red, or gloomy as black. In addition, there is Goodman." His name represents
what his society thought of him. He was a religious good person, who came from a long
linage of prominent Puritans.
Young Goodman Brown begins when Faith, Brown's wife, pleads with him not to go on his
errand." Goodman Brown says to his love and my Faith (passage 5) that this one night I
must tarry away from thee (passage 5). When he says his love and his Faith," he is
talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his faith in God. He is venturing into the
woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so; he leaves his unquestionable faith in God
with his wife. He resolves that he will cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven
(passage 5). This is an example of his excessive pride. He feels that he can meet with
the Devil because of the promise that he made to himself. There is tremendous irony to
this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his
wife with the same faith he had in her before.
Throughout literature, authors continue to use metaphors like darkness, sunsets, colors,
paths, and nature to help illustrate their hidden thoughts. This tool is supposed to give
the reader the feeling of something evil, or negative commencing. Goodman's errand sends
him off into the wild forest during the sunset where he is walking on a narrow dark path
that is easy to lose. The forest is a place where there are no rules to life, and a place
where nature can turn against civilized humans.
When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that his reason for being
late was because Faith kept me back awhile (passage 10). This statement has a double
meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with
the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. 
The Devil had with him a staff that bore the likeness of a great black snake" (passage
10). The staff is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led
Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and
Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking immeasurable amounts
of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, they were exiled from
paradise. The Devil's staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devil's ceremony, which
destroys Goodman Brown's faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his
utopia.
Goodman Brown almost immediately declares that he kept his meeting with the Devil and no
longer wishes to continue on his errand with the Devil. He says that he comes from a race
of honest men and good Christians and that his father had never gone on this errand and
nor will he. Conversely, the Devil is quick to point out that he was with his father and
grandfather when they were whipping a woman or burning an Indian village. These acts are
ironic in that they were bad deeds done in the name of good, or God It shows that he does
not come from good Christians. 
Goodman Brown's first excuse not to carry on with the errand proves to be unconvincing;
he says he cannot go because of his wife, Faith." At this point the Devil agrees with him
and tells him to turn back to prevent that Faith should come to any harm (passage 35)
like the old woman in front of them on the path. Consequently, Goodman Brown's faith is
harmed because the woman on the path is the woman who taught him his catechism in youth,
and was still his moral and spiritual adviser (passage 35). Afterward, Brown continues to
walk with the Devil in the disbelief of what he had just witnessed. He blames the woman
for consorting with the Devil but his own pride stops him from realizing that his faults
are the same as the woman's.
Brown again decides that he will no longer to continue on his errand. He rationalizes
that just because his teacher was not going to heaven, why should he quit my dear Faith,
and go after her (passage 40). In response, the Devil tosses Goodman Brown his staff
(which will lead him out of Eden) and leaves him.
Goodman Brown begins to think to himself about his situation and his pride in himself. He
applauds himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his
minister...And what calm sleep would be his...in the arms of Faith!" (Passage 40). This
is ironic because at the end of the story, he can not even look Faith in the eye, let
alone sleep next to her. As Goodman Brown is feeling good about his strength in resisting
the Devil, he hears the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin. He overhears their
conversation about a goodly young woman to be taken in to communion (passage 40). He
fears that it may be his Faith.
When Goodman Brown hears this, he becomes weak and blacks out. He begins to doubt whether
there really was a Heaven above him (passage 45). This is a key point when Goodman
Brown's faith begins to diminish. Goodman Brown in panic declares With Heaven above, and
Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil! (Passage 45). Again, Brown makes a
promise to keep his faith in God. Then a black mass of cloud (passage 45) goes between
Brown and the sky as if to barricade his prayer from the heavens. Brown then hears voices
of his community. Once Goodman Brown begins to doubt whether he actually heard these
voices, the sound comes to him again and this time it is followed by one voice, of a
young woman (passage 45). Goodman believes this is his Faith, and yells out her name only
to be mimicked by the echoes of the forest. A pink ribbon flies through the air and
Goodman grabs it. Now, Goodman Brown has lost all faith in the world and declares that
there is no good on earth (passage 50).
Goodman Brown had at this point lost his faith in God, therefore there was nothing
-restraining his instincts from moving towards evil because he had been lead out from his
utopian image of society.
At this point, Goodman Brown goes mad and challenges evil. He feels that he will be the
downfall of evil and that he is strong enough to overcome it all. This is another
demonstration of Brown's excessive pride.
Brown then comes upon the ceremony, which is setup like a distorted Puritan temple. A red
light surrounded the worshippers like a mask of evil over the devil worshippers. 
Brown starts to take notice of the faces that he sees in the service and he recognizes
them all, but he then realizes that he does not see Faith and hope came into his heart
(passage 50). This is the first time that the word hope ever comes into the story and it
is because this is the true turning point for Goodman Brown. If Faith was not there, as
he had hoped, he would not have to live alone in his community of heathens, which he does
not realize that he is already apart of.
The ceremony then begins with a cry to Bring forth the converts! (Passage 60).
Surprisingly Goodman Brown steps forward. He had no power to retreat one step, nor to
resist, even in thought... (Passage 60). Goodman Brown at this point seems to be in a
trance and loses control of his body as he unconsciously enters the service. The leader
of the service than addresses the crowd of converts, and informs them that all the
members of the congregation are the righteous, and honest. Then the leader informs them
to look at each other and Goodman Brown finds himself face to face with Faith. The leader
declaring that Evil is the nature of mankind (passage 65) welcomes the converts to
communion of your race (passage 65). The communion of your race statement reflects to the
irony of Brown's earlier statement that he comes from a race of honest men and good
Christians. Brown than snaps out from his trance and yells Faith! Faith! Look up to
Heaven and resist the wicked one! (Passage 65). At this, the ceremony ends and Brown
finds himself alone. He does not know whether his wife had kept her faith, but he finds
himself, alone which leads him to believe that he is also alone in his faith.
Young Goodman Brown ends with Brown returning to Salem at early dawn. He cannot believe
that he is in the same place that he just the night before; because to him, Salem was no
longer home. He felt like an outsider in a world of Devil worshippers. Brown expresses
his discomfort with his new surroundings and his excessive pride when he takes a child
away from a blessing given by Goody Cloyse, his former Catechism teacher, as if he were
taking the child from the grasp of the fiend himself (passage 70). His anger towards the
community is exemplified when he sees Faith who is overwhelmed with excitement to see him
and he looks sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting (passage
70). Brown cannot even stand to look at his wife with whom he was at the convert service
with. Because of his excessive pride, he feels that even though he was at the Devil's
service, he is still better than everyone else is. Brown feels he can push his own faults
on to others and look down at them rather than look at himself and resolve his own faults
with himself.
Goodman Brown was devastated by the discovery that the potential for evil resides in
everybody. The rest of his life is destroyed because of his inability to face this truth
and live with it. The story, which may have been a dream, and not a real life event,
planted the seed of doubt in Brown's mind, which consequently cut him off from his fellow
man and leaves him alone and depressed. His life ends alone and miserable because he was
never able to look at himself and realize that everyone else's faults were his as well.
His excessive pride in himself led to his isolation from the community. Brown was buried
with no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom (passage 70).