Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes the setting, the symbols, and syntax to create deception within the short story “Young Goodman Brown.” To start off the story, Hawthorne introduces Young Goodman Brown and his wife, Faith, standing at the threshold of their house in Salem village at sunset. Both the threshold and the sunset represent the middle of a transition, whether it be in time or place. At one point in the story Young Goodman Brown’s companion offers a staff that allows one to travel faster, and after hearing strange laughter and seeing a pink ribbon dance through the air, Young Goodman Brown uses the staff to fly through the forest path, that later vanishes, leaving him in the “heart of the dark wilderness” (1294). The transformation period
