Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is a short story about young man’s indecision about which path he will take in life. Goodman Brown is a Puritan living in the village of Salem,Massachusetts. He is married to a young woman named Faith. The name is of significance because Hawthorne uses it as an inner conflict for his main character Young Goodman Brown. In order for this struggle to take place, Hawthorne leads Goodman Brown through a journey to examine his innermost thoughts about good and evil. For the story’s sake Hawthorne has set this struggle in the forest. But what is the importance of the forest? This is what we will find out with further investigation.
Let us begin with Young Goodman Brown’s farewell to his wife Faith. He is only leaving his Faith for one night. But she’d rather he not take this journey at all. But Goodman Brown is compelled to go and as he leaves the narrator informs the reader that Goodman Brown “saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons”. On one hand, she represented his sadness because of the nature of his journey. On the other hand, she represented his hope that he would return unchanged.
We proceed with the narrator informing us that Goodman Brown “had taken a dreary road”. He takes this lonely path into the forest because he needs to explore his darker side. In order for him to do this, Hawthorne has provided him with a guide. Who is this guide? Well, no other than the Devil himself. Who better than the Devil to show Goodman Brown the evil side of human nature.
As they walk towards their destination, the Devil is trying to convince Goodman Brown to join his followers. He tells Goodman Brown about his ancestors and how they were all his good friends. But Goodman Brown is not easily swayed. His faith is intact until they come upon Goody Cloyse the woman who taught Goodman Brown his catechism. This is when Goodman Brown says “That old woman taught me my catechism”. This is the moment when the reader becomes aware that Goodman Brown is beginning to question everything that is close to him. He is beginning to see how things really are and not how he wanted them to be.
Yet Goodman Brown has a stubborn streak and he will not let go of his faith. He tells the Devil “my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand”. But soon he begins to weaken. He continues his journey, nonetheless, and is faced with cold reality when he reaches deeper into the forest. He discovers that most of the townspeople including the Deacon Gookin and Goody Cloyse are worshipers of the Devil. But most important he is confronted with his wife Faith and he becomes dishearten with the reality of how people really choose to act. Goodman Brown has finally arrived at his destination in the forest and is changed forever.
What is the importance of the forest? The forest signifies the place in each of us where truth is found through self introspection. Goodman Brown finally recognizes the fact that Salem is populated by hypocrites who hide themselves behind the veil of piety. A village of God fearing people who on occasion worship the Devil.
How did Goodman Brown take this journey? In a dream. Deep inside Goodman Brown must have known how these people were but he didn’t want to accept the facts. These were thoughts he couldn’t grasp. He probably heard gossip about some of them and “had seen others rioting at the tavern”. He knew they weren’t as pure as they appeared to be. All of these thoughts of Goodman Brown finally manifested itself into one hell of a nightmare.
He is so shaken by the truth that he becomes introspective about everything that concerns him. Also, he is distrustful of everyone around him. It is through this dream that the narrator insinuates that Goodman Brown comes to the realization that it is part of human nature to sin. Goodman Brown, in the conclusion of this story, has become so focused on everyone Else’s evil nature but not so much on his own. He knows he has the same nature of the people who surround him. But to him their evil is more intensified than his own. Therefore, he has condemned himself to hell because his life is unbearable without faith.
Bibliography
Wright, Sarah Bird.Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work.”Young Goodman Brown”.235-237.New York: Facts on File, 2007.
Fairbanks, Henry G. The Lasting Loneliness of Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the sources of Alienation in Modern Man. 40. New York: Magi, 1965.
