What Is The Theme Of Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the coming of age story of a Puritan man who embarks on an evening-long journey to test the resolve of his faith against the evil held in the world. The events of the journey witnessed by him will forever change his perspective of the world in an ironic way, as it would not be his resolve in his faith that would not be tested. Instead, he was given the opportunity to learn a valuable truth in that faith alone does not breed pure righteousness in man. It would be through this experience that the young Goodman Brown would learn that righteous minds and sinful thoughts can, and do, coincide in one body.

It is important to understand the way in which this lesson is taught to Goodman, where his fundamental base of understanding starts, and finally how Goodman Brown interprets his new found knowledge and its impact on his life. As the title of this story suggests, Goodman Brown is effectively a young man. He is resolute in the teachings of his beliefs carried in his village, but armed with only those teachings in the world does nothing but show Brown’s lack of experience and naivety. He shows evidence of this when he concerns himself with “devilish Indians” that might be lurking behind the trees waiting to ambush him

He meets the entity that will be his instructor, and they both descend deeper into the woods. The lesson starts off with a lecture. His instructor attempts to enlighten him with tales of sinful revelry with high ranking ministers, governors, and judges of the New England countryside. He even goes so far to mention his father and grandfather as personal acquaintances of his, and how he was of assistance to both of them in endeavors in their lives. (Hawthorn page 453-454). Despite his teacher’s best efforts, it becomes clear that a lecture would not be enough to reach Brown. He would have to find another way to get his teachings