The Inevitability Of Sin In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

. .” (Hawthorne 355). The idea of the Satanic congregation is cemented and proven correct with this quote. Here by this point Goodman Brown has nearly given up on his Puritan religion and is about to switch to Satanic instead. He is preparing to take part in this congregation with the people around. Preparing to accept 'his destiny ' as the dark figure so boldly stated. By the next Sabbath-day that takes place, Goodman Brown is present yet he is a changed man. “. . .when the congregation was singing a holy psalm, he could not listen, because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear, and drowned out all the blessed strain” (Hawthorne 357). Here readers are shown that Goodman Brown is trying to stay and stick with Puritanism. Goodman Brown seems to be trying to get over what he witnessed in the forest, and continue on being a good Puritan. Yet when the first holy psalm is being sung, he cannot bring himself to do so and only remembers the sins he has done. Proving that he can not long follow Puritanism and may have joined the religion of Satanism while he was in the forest. In brief, Goodman Brown undergoes a religious revelation while in the forest and must choose between staying a Puritan or becoming a

With the new belief that people he loved and trusted had succumbed to evil, Goodman Brown’s faith was shaken. He returned home as a changed man, “Young Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem Village, staring around him like a bewildered man” (Hawthorne 383). Faith burst into such joy at the sight of him and went to kiss her husband before the whole village, but “Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting” (Hawthorne 383). According to Hawthorne, it was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from a night of that fearful dream” was the unfortunate outcome for Brown (Hawthorne

In the text, “Young Goodman Brown”, Brown’s gloom and withdrawal is justified by the shocking events in the forest. This is because, during his time in the forest, be bears witness to supernatural events in which he sees that many people he knows from the path of god are in reality on the path of the devil.

“Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is meant to hold a larger truth about society. This story is comprised of many different symbols that work together to make that truth all the more clear to the reader. Hawthorne will accentuate the fact that faith is a choice, and each individual faces a struggle whether or not to accept faith as a part of who they are. He uses each character and event in the story as a representation of different influences that people are impacted by in the process of making a decision on faith.

When Goodman Brown is being tempted to go to the witches Sabbath, we see even those who must be the most holy people of the town on their way to the Sabbath, making Goody Cloyse “a marvel, truly, that [she] should be so far in the wilderness at nightfall” (Hawthorne 3). The devil uses this person, especially to try to push Brown over the edge into temptation. Much like there is a ‘Faith’ keeping a person on the mindset of goodness and pureness, there are aspects of life drawing us away from the goodness. Temptation is everywhere and the goal of temptation is to lead you away from purity to the evil. This temptation is often ignored or denied in an attempt to not fall into it. Goodman Brown’s “prolonged resistance is a denial of the wishes that are the source of his projections” (Levy 4). After seeing all the people falling into sin before him, Brown finds difficulty not to. Humanity struggles with this everyday. Humans will have a person or people highly regarded, but when the person or those people fail, they will lose the faith in humanity and give up by falling into the temptation. “Despite his resistance to the ceremony in the woods, Young Goodman Brown is ultimately initiated into the evil that lurks within the villagers...” (Young Goodman Brown 1). Everyone held up on a faith’s and innocence’s pedestal have also fallen into the trap of temptation. Everyone falls into the sin and temptation placed before them. There is not a single truly perfect person in the world, but people do not always initially realize this. Humanity will consciously resist all evil coming their way, while the subconscious craves it. The devil in the story is the subconscious and innate desires of humanity because he reveals that, “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race” (Hawthorne 8). Once a person comes to the realization of his or her own personal

(pg. 453)” Young Goodman Brown is a man living in the puritan era who has a wife and family, and is deep in his Christian faith. Young Goodman Brown lived in a town that is all connected to through the local church. Early in the story Young Goodman brown would set out to meet a person who would later be labeled as the devil by one of the locals. Young Goodman brown would have a vision of everyone in his community that would show him their wicked sins. “On the Sabbath day, when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he would not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain. (pg. 456)” Brown would grow with the idea that all his loved ones are “sinful” and he would be somewhat of a recluse, by setting himself apart from the community, family, and church. The story states that he would die this way, and hardly anyone would come to his grave. We see that with Young Goodman Brown, even though he was sound in his faith, he lost what it is that made him feel free. In a since, if his dream was true, then he lost the point of redemption, and could not handle the truth. In his story, the truth did not set him free, but this caused him to be a slave wasting away in his prison called

Brown died with a lost soul. The narrator stated, “They carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was in gloom” (Hawthorne, 1835, 323). His decision destroyed his faith but also with his wife Faith, which she was the representation of his faith. “My Faith is gone!” Cried he after one stupefied moment” (Hawthorne, 1835, 319). Which represent faith in God had left him and his wife Faith symbolized his religion. Faith warned him not to go into the forest, as for she knew that it would be a danger and will change his life, but he did it anyways. Brown could have made a decision to stay out, but his mind was so curious to find out more about the unknown that it destroyed his life forever. Overall, if Young Goodman Brown would have made a decision to choose the good path and not go into the forest with the devil, his life would have not changed for the worst. He would have kept his wife Faith. Also Brown would have kept his innocence and died peacefully instead of in

At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Brown leaving Faith, his wife. Interestingly, “...my Faith, of

"There is no one righteous, not even one.” This is the theme present throughout the short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The minister's black veil”. Nathaniel Hawthorne crafts two stories that not only look at the characters in the stories, but also forces the reader to examine human nature and their own self-righteousness; whether it be from the perspective of Goodman Brown or the townspeople of Salem. Nathaniel Hawthorne offers a peek behind the black veil that everyone wears.

A glimpse of evil, witchcraft, and the sudden loss of innocence.It's sunset in colonial Salem.Brown sets off on a voyage towards the forest near his hometown.as he leave, he gives a goodbye kiss to his wife, Faith. Faith begs young Goodman Brown not to leave her alone at night. The setting becomes frightening, and the challenges become more tought.First he come across an elderly witch.Follow by a couple of devil-worshippers.he then come encounter with a spooky "black mass of cloud". Shortly after, brown faces the devil himself and his minions.At last brown returns home safe from all the evil things.

In the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Faith” is the name of Young Goodman Brown’s wife and is also a metaphor for his inner faith in God. When Brown chooses an evening of sin and deceit, before being completely honest and devoted to his wife, Faith, he embarks on a journey that will change his life forever. Down a dark and crooked path, Brown comes face to face with the devil himself. Satan gives Young Goodman Brown a stark glimpse into the very evil of this world and the evil within man. This challenges everything good that Brown has ever known. Satan reveals the evil secret that exposes the sacrilege among the townspeople, including Brown’s own wife.

"There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given." Due to woman of the 1800’s is portrayed as being responsible, wholesome, act naïvely, as well as being religious and faithful in God. However, poor Brown is polluted due to his wife Faith, for which Hawthorn seems to lead threader in believing Brown’s loss of faith and innocence is her fault. Brown reflect this when returning home from the forest and see Faith in which his reaction was “But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without greeting” (70). He displays this further by “Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt down at prayer, he scowled, and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away.” (72) because his wife caused him to his loss of faith which he displays by not praying publicly or privately showing faith in

The story of ‘Young Goodman Brown’ was having puritan backgrounds. When Goodman was visiting through dark forest, the old man appreciated Goodman and shown affinity with his ancestors by stating as: "Well said, Goodman Brown! I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that 's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip 's War. They were my good friends, both; and many pleasant walks have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you, for their sake." (p-279). These lines revealed historical, mythical and puritan backgrounds as Goodman’s ancestors were involved in devilish activities like setting fire to an Indian village and his grandfather who once lashed the Quaker woman in the street of Salem; this old man was the friend of Brown’s ancestors. Brown resultantly rejected this so called story about his forefather’s filthy and heinous activities at Salem and he stated that his ancestors were pious and good people and further he stated that his father

Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American author during the 19th century witnessed the power of sin to wreak havoc not only to an individual but a whole community. His novel The Scarlet Letter expresses this very idea by exposing the follies of mankind and the potentially detrimental effects of sin through Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth

He believes that his Faith is salvageable, yet due to Hawthorne’s use of deliberate ambiguity, Goodman Brown does not know “whether Faith obeyed” him or not (395). Goodman Brown awakes the next morning unsure if his Faith remains intact, unsure how the hellish communion ended. His uncertainty causes him to distrust those around him, “he shrank from” the minister and “snatched away [a] child,” from Goody Cloyse (395). He even distrusts his own Faith, deciding not to speak to her and only “looked sternly and sadly into her face,” attempting to discern if Faith is without sin (395). As such, he commits the unpardonable sin, looking for sin in others. He fears that he has lost God’s grace, or fears that others may tempt him into sin. Uncertain of his place and of the intentions of others, he attempts to find the sin before it may taint him further. However, sin’s taint had already reached him. Weighted down by his constant search for certainty, Goodman Brown became “a sad” and “desperate man” (395). His sin haunted him until his final breath, “for his dying hour was gloom” (395).