The Fall of Young Goodman Brown

The fall of Young Goodman Brown

Theme plays a major role in young Goodman Brown. In the story there are three major themes. My first theme is the weakness of public moral. My second theme is the loss of innocence. My third and final theme is the fear of the wilderness. The themes are apparent threw out the entire story.

In Young Goodman brown the weakness of public moral is revealed. This theme is corruptible by the puritan society’s emphasis on public morality which weakens the individual’s person’s religious faith. Even though Goodman Brown decided to go into the forest to meet the devil he is scared to be seen with the devil so he hides from Goody Cloyse, The minister, and Deacon Gookin. He is more scared of being seen with the devil then with actually deciding to meet the devil. His belief in god is connected with his community’s belief in god that his own faith in god is weak. His faith in god is like Goodman Brown is just following the crowd. This kind of social belief leaves him susceptible to the devils scrutiny that it ends up crushing what little true faith that he had. When Goodman brown finds out that his family and members of his community are followers of the devil he decides to join them in following the devil. The author Nathanial Hawthorne is suggesting that people should not follow the crowd. Also that when we decide to put are faith and morals in those around us it can only end in our own personal turmoil. The weakness of public moral is apparent in young Goodman brown in this part of the story “But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches give...

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...d to the limit of comprehension, Goodman Brown stumbles onto the polluted core of his true self and disavows it, withdrawing into himself to become "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not desperate man." When he dies, nobody grieves.

Gen e, Randy. "Into the Woods with the Devil." American Theatre Apr. 1995: 8+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15

No one can enter it [the forest] without losing his way. The forest has always been a place of initiation for there the demonic presences, the ancestral spirits, and the forces of nature reveal themselves.” Brown is no exception. For in the forest he is made aware of demonic presences, ancestral spirits, and he confronts the forces of nature in their strange and fearful aspects.

Title: The Forest of Goodman Brown's Night: A Reading of Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown'

Author(s): Reginald Cook