Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “Young Goodman Brown” there is a social dialogue created through the piece about issues that faced the author and the society around him. The discussion is created through the development of man giving in to evil due to the wrongdoing of his beloved wife, his confrontation with a devilish figure, entangling in the unending struggle evil, altering his reality, and a his loss of innocence. Young Goodman Brown travels into the woods and it becomes very clear that this place is a reflection of his malicious thoughts, or his evil side. “…prisoner of a partial vision that has dehumanized him, and obliterated from his mind that part of a man…is made in God’s image and is next to the angels in the hierarchy …show more content…
. “ The devil is Brown, father, grandfather, all rolled into one, the exact counterpart of Faith, Brown’s heavenly side” (Walsh). This article helps to find a deeper meaning within the symbolism, such as the journey into the forest and Faith. The old man offers Brown his walking stick shaped as a snake, but Goodman has always been a good Christian man. As the two of them venture further into the forest, they stumble upon multiple figures, all of which Goodman Brown considers to be of good religious standing, the governor, the priest, and the women who taught him catechism. Goodman Brown is shocked when he witnesses the people whom he believes in so deeply secretly worshiping the devil. The pink ribbons Brown left Faith with fall from the sky as he hears her scream. He discovers Faith is a part of this worship, and young Goodman Brown cries out to her to look up to the heaven and resist all temptations. He then wakes up the next morning alone in the forest, was this all a dream? He makes his way back home and sees each person whom he may have dreamt worshiping the devil. After this tragic event, he seems to have lost his faith and god, and dies suspicious, lonely and bitter. . “Evil is the nature of mankind” (Walsh). When Hawthorne writes, “…the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting –house, he looked back and saw the head of …show more content…
Evil is detected through the story, within the character, setting, and is the overall theme. Humankind can be evil, and full of hatred, and Nathaniel Hawthorne highlights this throughout the story. Brown became a prisoner of his own mind in the last paragraph, gaining despair and distrust. The alteration of Brown’s reality was dramatic even though it may have all been a dream, it still changed his faith. Should one not believe in their faith due to other peoples beliefs, this is the underlying question Hawthorne wanted the reader to have in the concluding