The point in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" when Brown proclaims "My Faith is gone!" marks the crisis point of the story. Brown's faith in God completely disappears here. This point eventually leads Brown to distrust everyone that he knows and sends his life into a downward spiral of despair and fear. Even though Brown's experience in the forest changes him, this change is only on the surface, and deep down Brown is still the same man he was before.
While it is not stated early in the story, Goodman Brown's faith in God begins to waiver much earlier than the beginning of the story. Brown's lack of faith is the reason he takes the journey into the woods. However, the narrator never tells why Brown starts to doubt God. The reader is left to guess whether a single incident or a series of incidents cause this course that leads Brown to an unhappy life.
Despite the lack of information on Goodman Brown's past, the cause of the trip into the forest is known. He has sinned and knows he has of his own free will. Also Brown experiences the sin of pride. He wants the knowledge about what nobody really knows about: the devil. The major flaw with this thinking is that Brown relies on the village to protect him. He thinks if he decides not to join the devil, the town will greet him with open arms and will fix everything. But when Brown returns to the village, he sees the villagers differently and does not ask for their help.
Before going into the woods, Goodman Brown views everyone in his town the same way. He believes that all of his neighbors are pious and have complete faith in God. He sees his neighbors as completely good, which is a very limited view. He only sees these people as they behave in public. Brown then bases his perception only on that behavior. He has no idea how everyone else thinks. In reality, every person has sinned in some way. Goodman Brown cannot accept this concept, especially since he is not aware of it.
When Brown emerges from the forest, his life has changed. His life is now full of pain. Brown cannot stand to hear his minister speak now. He also tends to shrink away from people and to scowl and mutter at them.
Young Goodman Brown was a man who was naïve to the world around him. Ever since he was a child, he had always practiced a very Godly life. Not only does he believe that everyone around him follows the same path, but he also believes that it is the only path. This naivety and innocence was taken from him by the Devil, who opened his eyes to the world of evil around him. After the pagan ceremony, which Brown attends, the Devil even states “Now are ye undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind” (Hawthorne 9). By saying this, Hawthorne is trying to say that it is better to know the whole truth than to live a lie. By not knowing the truth about evil existing in Salem village, Brown has essentially been living a life that is not complete or accurate. This perfect and fair world that was found in the Bible is not the real world that surrounds him. When his innocence is stolen from him so abruptly, he begins to lose both his faith and stability in the world.
Hawthorne skillfully uses Goodman Brown’s wife’s name, Faith, as a symbol of Goodman Brown’s strong faith when Brown’s reassuring response to Faith imply that his faith cannot be weakened: “Amen!’ cried Goodman Brown, “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (Hawthorne 22). Brown leaves Faith; whom he describes as a “blessed angel on earth,” and journeys to the forest (Hawthorne 22). Taking the dark, dreary road into the forest symbolizes his act of jumping into the path leading to despair. The forest represents sin, and the evil grows stronger and stronger as Goodman walks further into the
In the short story, the realization that Goodman Browns family is not as pure as he thought comes about through his own sinful actions. In going into the woods with this stranger, Goodman Brown knows that what he is doing is bad, and he realizes that it is not what a good Puritan does. This interaction b...
All people have problems with the community in which they live. Their conflicts are either with the people or the ideas of the community. In the story "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne shows his main character having conflicts with his society. Young Goodman Brown, the main character, does not notice these problems until after his trip into the forest. The two questions that Hawthorne implies are why his character cannot adapt to the community and what conditions does the character not agree. Before Brown's visit into the woods, he has no problem with his community; however, he becomes aware of the problems of his community after the encounter in the forest. Being involved with one's community was very important during the time period. Goodman Brown's community was very small, and everyone knew everyone. If one did not adapt to the ways of the society, then that person was shunned from it. Young Goodman Brown was well adapted to his community and was well known. The man that Brown encounters in the woods states, "I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say (265)". This statement implies that the Browns are a popular family among this community. After meeting this strange man, Brown begins to witness some bizarre events. He notices many familiar people attend a devilish ceremony in the forest, and some of these figures are ones whom Goodman Brown has thought to be good and innocent.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory. Hawthorne’s moral story is told through the perversion of a religious leader, Goodman Brown. Goodman is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil. The result is that Goodman lives the rest of his life in exile within his own community.
Faith can be defined, as a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man who leaves his wife, Faith, at home alone for a night while he takes a walk down the road of temptation with the devil. Along the road he sees many people that he would never expect to see on this road, his wife included. He returns to his life in Salem a changed man. In "Young Goodman Brown" Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism and characterization to imply that when individuals lose their faith in the goodness of mankind, they may begin to imagine that their peers have yielded to temptation.
From the beginning of Hawthorne’s story a test of faith prevails. From the moment that Young Goodman Brown parts with his wife, Faith, to when they meet again at the heart of the forest, the very manner Young Goodman Brown has been taught his entire life is at stake. Yet it is not so much Goodman Brown’s faith in God that is the concern but whether or not Goodman Brown feels he can trust anyone or anything he has ever come to know and believe in. Society has preconditioned him to think a certain way, thus through this journey Young Goodman Brown cannot deal with the new Puritan life he witnesses. Since he is unsure of what his society is truly like Goodman Brown is now incapable of knowing his place in society and knowing whom he really is.
Klevay, Robert. ""His Dying Hour Was Gloom": Crises of Faith in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"____." Crisis of Faith. New York: Grey House, 2013. 106-23. Print.
It is surprising, in a way, to discover how few of the many critics who have discussed "Young Goodman Brown'' agree on any aspect of the work except that it is an excellent short story. D. M. McKeithan says that its theme is "sin and its blighting effects." Richard H. Fogle observes, "Hawthorne the artist refuses to limit himself to a single and doctrinaire conclusion, proceeding instead by indirection,'' implying, presumably, that it is inartistic to say something which can be clearly understood by the readers. Gordon and Tate assert, "Hawthorne is dealing with his favorite theme: the unhappiness which the human heart suffers as a result of its innate depravity." Austin Warren says, ''His point is the devastating effect of moral scepticism." Almost all critics agree, however, that Young Goodman Brown lost his faith. Their conclusions are based, perhaps, upon the statement, "My Faith is gone!" made by Brown when he recognizes his wife's voice and ribbon. I should like to examine the story once more to show that Young Goodman Brown did not lose his faith at all. In fact, not only did he retain his faith, but during his horrible experience he actually discovered the full and frightening significance of his faith.
When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil and looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife, Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself, he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers, and he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him.
...to the woods transforms him from an overly trusting, naïve man into a cynical, and corrupted man. Before his life changing journey, goodman Brown is unknowing of all the sin that goes on around him. He believes that everyone he knows is perfect and without sin. This changes when he takes a trip through the forest. His eyes are opened in a sense, but maybe too wide. Goodman Brown becomes paranoid about everyone in the village including his wife, Faith. He also becomes corrupted and unable to focus on his religious activities that he has always done before. Fundamentally, faith is something that Brown gave away freely to anyone but, rather, should be given moderately.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s allegorical story “Young Goodman Brown” is set in Salem, Massachusetts during the late sixteen hundreds in a time of religious hysteria and only a few generations after the infamous witch trials. Although "Young Goodman Brown" is a fictional tale, it is based on the cynical environment of Salem during this time period. The short story is filled with many literary elements, leading you to question what did exactly happen to the main character at the conclusion. When analyzing a story like "Young Goodman Brown", one must recognize that the story is at whole symbolic. In the text, symbols are used to uncover the truth of the characters. The role of Faith as both a character and a spiritual element are crucial to both the story and the character of Young Goodman Brown.
When Brown arrives back in Salem, he is a changed man. He has retained the knowledge of the sinful state of mankind, and he readily sees the hypocrisy of the so-called Christians around him.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, Young Goodman Brown, Brown goes on a journey through the forest that drastically changes him. While we never know the real reason why Brown went to the forest, the experience in the forest caused him to become a bitter, sad, and lonely man who couldn't look at life the same after that night. There were many events that occurred in the forest that caused this change in him.
Late one night he finds himself in the middle of the woods with the Devil, on his way to a meeting of the Devil's followers. After seeing respected townsfolk at the Devil's meeting, including his minister and his wife, Faith, he loses hope in humanity and all that he had known to be true or real. Goodman Brown wakes up in his bed immediately following the Devil's meeting and wonders if what had happened was reality or simply just a dream. Despite his confusion about the events that took place, he was unable to forget what had happened and lost faith in religion and his com... ...