The dark path in the woods are the physical location in which Brown explores his doubts and opposing desires, and as such represent his personal hell. Although Brown eventually leaves the physical location of the woods, it seems that mentally he stays there for the rest of his life afterwards. As a result, the path through the forest must represent the darkness through which people travel symbolically to reach spiritual goals. Goodman Brown states in the story that he must make the journey through the forest, which further indicates that it is a path everyone travels in life to seek the answers to spiritual questions. Thus, the point of this story is that unfortunately sometimes the answers one finds are not the ones they are prepared to accept.
