Obsession In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Writing about the 17th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne used the knowledge of his ancestors to depict influential stories of the Puritan culture and their ideals. Often noting the hypocrisy of Puritanism, his characters embody the virtues and flaws of the Puritan people. One of his characters, Young Goodman Brown, experiences a substantial disillusionment after he attends the devil’s ceremony in the woods of Salem. At the procession, the devil preaches with a certain superiority, “This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds… where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot” (44). Goodman Brown learns that those whom he had considered as the models of morality are

actually sinners. The devil accentuates the point that not only these people are sinners, but that all people of the Earth are. This realization provokes paranoia in Goodman Brown, thus he can no longer trust his neighbors. He becomes obsessed with the purity of others, and ponders the sins they have committed. Many other characters, some Puritan, and some not, exhibit the same Puritan characteristics as Young Goodman Brown. In his various short stories, such as “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Birthmark,” and “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the deep Puritan obsession with sin and purity to expose the potential violence, social isolation, and trust issues that can consequently arise from it.
The recurring obsession with purity is an inherent part of Puritanism induced by faith and pride.

Although Aylmer is neither a Puritan nor is he living in the same time period as Goodman Brown or Reverend Hooper, he shares a similar obsession. However, his obsession deals more with perfection rather than purity, as he is more of a scientific person than a religious one. Rather than faith, the impetus of Aylmer’s obsession is his pride. Frustrated, he says, “No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection" (83). Aylmer takes pride in his scientific work, himself, and the things he has, including his wife. To see an imperfection so distinct disappoints him, and he will attempt whatever is possible to eliminate her flaws. While Aylmer attempts to purify Georgiana’s imperfection, Goodman Brown is obsessed with others’ sins religiously. However, Goodman Brown is not a completely pure person himself, as he voluntarily ventures into the woods in which he knows sinful creatures lie. Before departing, Goodman Brown ponders:

“Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! 'twould kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”

(36).
Faith is the primary catalyst for his obsession with sin and purity. Young Goodman Brown has high moral expectations for his neighbors, and to see them, specifically Faith, violate those expectations so blatantly by attending the ceremony of the devil frightens him and disillusions him about the actual purity of the citizens in his community. Whereas Goodman Brown worries about the sins that others have committed, he rarely acknowledges that he himself is a sinner and still considers himself one of the Elect. Hawthorne notes the hypocrisy of Puritanism pertaining to the evaluation of one’s purity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” the congregants are very observant of religion and of each other, specifically regarding one another’s behavior and purity. As Hooper approaches the church with a black veil over his face, the townspeople immediately judge him and begin to imagine the possible reasons why he would wear the veil. The congregants are occupied by the obsession with Reverend Hooper’s purity, they forget that each of them have sinned themselves, and that their religion states that everyone is tainted by original sin. The people carry so much pride in themselves that they obsess with others’ purity instead of reflecting on their own.
As a result of the obsession, Hawthorne’s characters take action to purify their lives and rid them of their flaws.

The protagonist of “The Birthmark,” Aylmer, uses physical action to attempt to achieve perfection. His obsession with imperfection is evoked by Georgiana’s birthmark on her cheek. Although Georgiana only has one major flaw, her birthmark, Aylmer is determined to remove it and fulfill her perfection. Despite her doubts concerning the removal, Aylmer has enough pride and confidence to execute the final elimination of the birthmark. Thus, he concocts a liquid for Georgiana to drink which will cure her birthmark. Aylmer’s scientific perfectionism is not unlike the Puritan obsession of purity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Reverend Hooper dons a piece of black crape over his face in hopes to force the congregants to realize their own sins instead of constantly obsessing over others. Incited by religion, Hooper recognizes the immoral nature of their obsession, and decides to take action through his wearing of the veil. As he lies dying, he exclaims, “Why do you tremble at me alone… Tremble also at each other… loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!” (35). His whole life, nobody understood the significance of his veil. On his deathbed, he finally discloses the reason. The veil over his face was an attempt by Reverend Hooper

to have everyone reflect on their own sins, yet the people only theorized about his. Both Aylmer and Hooper have similar obsessions with perfection and purity, and each of their obsessions overwhelms them and motivates them to act to attain that purity in their lives.
In their attempts to purify their imperfections, Young Goodman Brown, Reverend Hooper, and Aylmer are consequently the ones afflicted. Violence is the outcome of Aylmer’s elixir for Georgiana. As she dies after drinking his experiment, the narrator says, “That sole token of human imperfection—faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight” (95). Aylmer’s action, which he claims had the intent of love, resulted in her murder. The real motive behind his curing her birthmark was his obsession with purity and his pride. Georgiana’s death reveals the potential disaster of perfectionism and the obsession with purity. However, Reverend Hooper lives a long life of isolation due to his choice of wearing the veil. Essentially surrendering his life to the purpose of teaching the townspeople a lesson about the wrong in obsessing with others’ purity, Reverend Hooper suffers the most severe consequence. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Goodman Brown endures a repercussion for his actions as well. After seeing various members of his community whom he trusted to be religiously pure at the ceremony of the devil, he could never talk to them again. Fearing so deeply the sins they have committed, he becomes socially isolated from his community. Hawthorne writes, “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream” (45). Goodman Brown dies a lonely, fearful, and suspicious man because of his strong obsession with the purity and sin of others. Aylmer, Hooper, and Goodman Brown each suffer in unique ways from their connection to purity.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these characters’ obsession to expose the dire consequences. In “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil,” multiple characters are obsessed with the sins that others are hiding. The theme of hiding one’s faults and flaws is prevalent in literature not only pertaining to the Puritans of American history. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and her husband plot to murder King Duncan. After the crime, Macbeth assumes power and must speak with Duncan’s closest friends in such a way that he will not be accused of the Duncan’s assassination. Conspiring with Lady Macbeth, he says, “False face must hide what the false heart doth know” (I.vii.92-96). Macbeth must hide the sins of his heart by displaying a facade. Reverend Hooper presents a facade, however, it is the opposite. Instead of showing a kind face to cover his sins like Macbeth, he wears a dark veil to cover his typically genial disposition. The false faces of the world are what cause one to be suspicious and obsess over another’s purity. Considering the texts, one’s obsession with purity and sin can only result in one’s downfall.