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Good Vs. Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

879 Words4 Pages

Many men express innocence to others who are in their surroundings, but are easily fooled by natural instincts and are curious about the existence of evilness and how it is presented. Throughout life, one may find that journeys are full of good and evil. Goodman Brown continues his journey, even after protests from his wife, and even after his own doubts along the way. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's "Young Goodman Brown," Goodman Brown 's journey on a path of self-discovery takes him through innocence and sin, displaying the inevitable descent from good to evil and Brown’s loss of religious faith and innocence.
Making choices is a common factor when a person determines which path to take, as it is from the beginning of the story and throughout Goodman Brown’s journey, in which it is clear that he must make choices between good and evil. Goodman Brown’s loss of innocence began when he left his wife, who had wished he would stay with her that night instead of taking the journey into the dark forest. When Faith asked him to remain with her, he responded, “My love and my Faith, of all nights …show more content…

His decision to meet with the mysterious man in the forest demonstrates that the temptation of discovering the unknown is too much to resist. Even after he changes his mind and decides to turn back, Goodman Brown justifies his journey into the forest after seeing many acquaintances, many of whom he labeled as pious and godly, headed deeper into the forest to attend the ritual. Basing the evil choices Goodman Brown makes on naivety, he displays the weakening of faith in himself. “Goodman Brown heard the tramp of horses along the road, and deemed it advisable to conceal himself within the verge of the forest, conscious of the guilty purpose that had brought him thither” shows that Goodman Brown, ashamed of the progress of his journey, did not want others to see him traveling on the same evil path as they

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