The secondary characters in Nathanial Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” help to depict Goodman Brown’s journey from innocence to experience. These secondary characters lead Brown through to experience, which comes in the form of an enlightenment that all people participate in evil acts. The encounters each reveal a different group of people found in the communion of evil, thus expanding the group established by the previous encounter. Because Brown sees each secondary character as a good people, witnessing them in an evil light leads him to a new understanding of evil in the world. After meeting Goody Cloyse, Brown comes to comprehend that those who he thought would know better associate with evil, and his meeting with the minister and Deacon
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Hawthorne uses her character to expose Brown to the fact that even those who should know better sometimes consort with evil, and eases him into the idea that humanity contains evil. In order to institute that Goody Cloyse represents the people who should know better than to associate with the devil, the narrator establishes her as a pivotal figure in Brown’s life by stating that she “taught [him his] catechism” (Hawthorne 82). Because she taught him his catechism, the narrator implies that Brown assumes that Goody Cloyse knows better than to have anything to do with the devil, and states that he “thought she was going to heaven” (83). Despite this, Goody Cloyse immediately “knows her old friend” the devil upon seeing him on the “road darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind” (80, 82). This road, on which Brown and the devil meet all of the secondary characters on, symbolizes the road to hell. Thus, Goody Cloyse walks on the road to hell, and her statement proves that she has, in fact, done evil with him in the past. Additionally, she begins a conversation with the devil about her “broomstick,… smallage and cinquefoil and wolf’s bane,” all of which are associated with …show more content…
This final encounter incites him to believe that all people, even the most innocent of all, are evil. The narrator depicts Faith as innocent, as seen in “the pink ribbons of her cap,” and, because she is so innocent, Brown plans, “after this one night, [to] cling to her skirts and follow her up to heaven” (79). His plan reveals that Faith is an allegory of his own faith in God. Brown further proves Faith to be a symbol of his faith and as his link to God by crying out “with heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil” (84). Nevertheless, Faith joins Goody Cloyse, the minister, and Deacon Gookin “in [the devil’s] worshipping assembly” that very same night, indicating that she, too, contains evil (87). Brown “beheld a pink ribbon,” lost by Faith, hanging from a tree, which symbolizes his innocence (85). After his encounter with Faith, Brown brings all of the pieces of his journey together, and comes to believe that “evil is the nature of mankind” (87). Goodman Brown gives up on humanity because he has seen wickedness in four people who he believed to be living “lives of righteousness and [to have] prayerful aspirations heavenward”, thus deciding that "there [cannot be any] good on earth; and [that] sin is but a name" (85, 87). These four characters, in Brown’s eyes, illustrate all of humanity is
Hawthorne uses her character to expose Brown to the fact that even those who should know better sometimes consort with evil, and eases him into the idea that humanity contains evil. In order to institute that Goody Cloyse represents the people who should know better than to associate with the devil, the narrator establishes her as a pivotal figure in Brown’s life by stating that she “taught [him his] catechism” (Hawthorne 82). Because she taught him his catechism, the narrator implies that Brown assumes that Goody Cloyse knows better than to have anything to do with the devil, and states that he “thought she was going to heaven” (83). Despite this, Goody Cloyse immediately “knows her old friend” the devil upon seeing him on the “road darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind” (80, 82). This road, on which Brown and the devil meet all of the secondary characters on, symbolizes the road to hell. Thus, Goody Cloyse walks on the road to hell, and her statement proves that she has, in fact, done evil with him in the past. Additionally, she begins a conversation with the devil about her “broomstick,… smallage and cinquefoil and wolf’s bane,” all of which are associated with …show more content…
This final encounter incites him to believe that all people, even the most innocent of all, are evil. The narrator depicts Faith as innocent, as seen in “the pink ribbons of her cap,” and, because she is so innocent, Brown plans, “after this one night, [to] cling to her skirts and follow her up to heaven” (79). His plan reveals that Faith is an allegory of his own faith in God. Brown further proves Faith to be a symbol of his faith and as his link to God by crying out “with heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil” (84). Nevertheless, Faith joins Goody Cloyse, the minister, and Deacon Gookin “in [the devil’s] worshipping assembly” that very same night, indicating that she, too, contains evil (87). Brown “beheld a pink ribbon,” lost by Faith, hanging from a tree, which symbolizes his innocence (85). After his encounter with Faith, Brown brings all of the pieces of his journey together, and comes to believe that “evil is the nature of mankind” (87). Goodman Brown gives up on humanity because he has seen wickedness in four people who he believed to be living “lives of righteousness and [to have] prayerful aspirations heavenward”, thus deciding that "there [cannot be any] good on earth; and [that] sin is but a name" (85, 87). These four characters, in Brown’s eyes, illustrate all of humanity is