Young Goodman Brown Analytical Essay

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In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne points out in a not so subtle way the damning nature of the Puritan society. “All men are evil sinners, thus doomed to hell”, is what the puritans believed of themselves and others. This way of thinking led to a life of suspicion and dread. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown enters the forest at the start of the story, but the person that comes out of the forest sees the world in a whole new way. In the forest Goodman Brown experiences the “dream” which had a major effect in his life.
At the start of the story Goodman Brown is torn from his wife, Faith, to attend an event that “must needs be done”. The story is an allegory for the sin of man and the hypocrisy of the puritan lifestyle. No matter how much Faith pleads for him to stay, the journey is inevitable much like thresholds in ones life. On this journey Goodman …show more content…

As he is traveling down this narrow and dark forest with his guide he has many moments of hesitation. The devil, as Goody Cloyse exclaims when he surprises her tells Goodman the relation he holds with many prominent members of the community. “I have a very general acquaintance here in New England. The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporters of my interest”. The devil also states the relationship he holds with Goodman’s family. “I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans”. Still reluctant to continue on this path Goodman Brown sits to clear his head. There is when he discovers the truth while hidings behind the bushes when the minister and Deacon come down the path. He saw for himself the devil tells the truth. When Goodman heard the voice of Faith at the ceremony the temptation became too great. There he saw the most prominent people from his

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