Public Morality In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown

People never think about their own faith until they see someone else’s being tested and they only think about their faith at that moment to ensure that theirs is stronger. However, what people fail to understand is that faith is between God and one’s self, it is not something that society needs to accept. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, the readers are exposed to mystery, suspense, and fear. The author uses the techniques of imagery and symbolism to employ to the readers the idea of public morality, in which the appearance of one’s faith to other people is more important than how their faith really is. The idea that when someone copies the beliefs of people around him, that weakens one’s own faith. Throughout the short story, the readers come across several symbols, his wife, Faith, and the woods, that portray that idea. In addition, the author also uses imagery to vividly deliver the idea of public morality to the readers.

In the short story, Young Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, is a symbol that the author uses to deliver his idea. Faith is a

Young Goodman Brown meets with the devil in the forest and the woods. The woods represent Young Goodman Brown’s own fear, suspicion and dark feelings that he does not want anyone to acknowledge. The forests and the woods are always secluded form the world. They are always quiet and empty from people. Since Young Goodman Brown chose to meet with the devil in a place that is secluded from the rest of the world, shows how he does not want other people to find out about his shameful and secret meeting. Nevertheless, when Young Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse, the minister and others in the forest with the devil, he stops minding it as much, he becomes more comfortable. Which ties up to the idea of caring more about other people’s thoughts of his faith than how his faith really