The Symbolism Of Faith In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Faith

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author conveys a tone of secrecy and mystery to both hold and captivate the reader. Throughout the entire story Hawthorn utilizes symbols and foreshadowing to make the reader question the reality that Hawthorne creates. In order to understand Young Goodman Brown the reader must look deeper into the story than what lies on the surface. Good vs Evil is the overall theme of this story; Hawthorne uses “Faith” as his primary symbol. By the end of the story Hawthorne shows that faith can be the greatest asset to a human being, on the contrary no faith can lead to evil.

Hawthorne uses Faith as the very name for Young Goodman Browns wife. This is a direct correlation to Goodman Browns own faith, initially being pure as shown in Hawthorne’s description of Faith. “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink ribbons of her cap” (342). This description conveys a very naïve and pure image of Faith.

Goodman Brown has a ritual in the forest he must

attend. Faith attempts to stop Goodman Brown from partaking on this journey as she has a bad feeling. Goodman Brown reassures his wife Faith and also his own spiritual Faith with the following: “‘Amen!’ Cried Goodman Brown. ‘Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee’” (342). This excerpt attempts to sway the reader to believe that Hawthorne’s faith is true and pure, however we soon learn this is not the case.
Goodman Brown continues with this journey and heads to the dark, gloomy forest. Goodman Brown knows he is about to partake in a sinful act yet he feels morally correct due to his faith. “With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose” (343). Hawthorne uses this wording to make the reader question Goodman Brown, Is he the man we think he is? The man his wife thinks he is?
Goodman Brown is approached by a dark hooded figure whom the reader can identify as the devil.

The dark figure urges Goodman Brown to follow, Goodman Brown replies, “‘having kept my covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples, touching the matter thou wot’st of’” (343). The purpose here is clearly his faith, he feels it is his duty to turn around and go home to “Faith”. The devil attempts to sway Goodman Brown by stating all the evil acts that he performed. Goodman replies with: “‘there is my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart: and I’d rather break my own’” (343). Hawthorne is showing the reader that Goodman truly believes in his faith, even to the point where he would die for it. The term “Faith” is used to identify Goodman’s wife however we can also correlate Goodman’s own Faith to each situation in which it is

mentioned.
Goodman stands strong in the face of the devil and turns around to go home. This is the part of the story where Goodman’s faith is truly questioned. As he travels home he passes many characters along the way whom are headed to the ritual. These characters surprise Goodman as he sees many of them as people of great respect within the community. Hawthorne is showing us that any human being can be guilty of sin, from the high priest to the low drug addict.
The first character whom he passes is his childhood catechism teacher Goody Cloyse. This is a harsh reality for Goodman Brown and marks the decline of his personal faith. Catechism is the schooling taught to initial Christians. Hawthorne uses the teacher who started Goodman’s faith as the same teacher who starts the decline of Goodmans faith. Goodman continues on his journey but is surprised at the sight of Deacon Gookin. Goodman’s faith is clearly declining as shown by Hawthorne’s statement: “caught hold of a tree, for support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and overburthened with the sickness of his heart” (346).
Goodman then finds his wives ribbon in the forest, this weakens his faith even further. “‘My Faith is gone!’ Cried he, after one stupefied moment. ‘There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name. Come devil! For to thee is this world given’” (349). The reader must look past the word Faith as a name and correlate this word to Goodman’s own Faith. Goodman has been mentally defeated and heads to the dark ritual. Upon reaching the ritual Goodman is astonished at the number of attendees. Goodman feels his entire town has attended the ritual, Goodman’s faith is now gone and he believes there is no good in the world. Goodman locates his wife at the same ritual and can literally not believe the sight. “Faith! Faith! Cried the husband, look up to heaven, and resist the evil one!” (349). this is Goodman’s last ditch hope to hold on to the sliver of faith he has left.
The reader never knows the outcome of the ritual as Goodman blinks and everything is gone. Goodman returns to the village a very different man, a faithless man. He sees the entire town as sinful, evil, and dark. Goodman sees his wife and walks right by without acknowledgement. “But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting.” (349) Hawthorne shows us that Goodmans faith is completely gone, even the sight of his “pure” wife can change that. Goodman lives the remaining days of his life with this same outlook. Eventually passing on with Hawthorne stating: “for his dying hour was gloom”. (349)
Hawthorne utilizes the journey through the forest as a representation of the evil and sin which dominates our society. Most readers can relate to Goodman Brown in one way or another. We have all been plagued by sin and forced to turn to our faith in order to overcome. Sometimes the sin overcomes our faith as Hawthorne shows us in Young Goodman Brown. I believe Hawthorne is showing us that any human being on this planet is capable of sin. We as human beings must overcome sin and those who commit it, we must forgive these sins and move forward with our faith. Goodman Brown could not accomplish this but I believe Hawthorne wishes this for his readers. Be the good in the world and do not let sin overcome your beliefs.