Young Goodman Brown Character Analysis

Young Goodman Brown Ever heard of Nathaniel Hawthorne? “Young Goodman Brown”? The Scarlet Letter? Born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hathorne (named after his father) was born to an Elizabeth Clark Hathorne and Nathaniel Hathorne. His father being a fisherman meant being raised by his mother a majority of his childhood and throughout the rest of his childhood after 1808 when his father died at sea from yellow fever. Hathorne, his mother, and two girls being left alone suffered in their dwindling financial state forcing them to move in with Elizabeth’s well off brother’s, the Mannings. During the time he lived with the Mannings Nathaniel injured his leg, rendering him immobile for various months. In these months he started …show more content…
As stated before, these themes and symbols were originally implemented by Hawthorne to catch the interest of the residents of Salem and other parts of the country that could relate to this topic or knew anything about loss of faith. The way Brown is displayed depicts him as an average male during the time period rendering him relatable to readers and a development to an understanding of his motives and actions. The reason however that this story has caught the attention of so many readers in the past and in future generations is due to the fact of the antagonist, the old man in the forest, or with a better understanding of the story the devil himself. Knowing of such an evil entity grabs the attention of the reader as to how Brown will deal with the situation that he is involved in. Leaving empathy at the end for Brown as the reader discovers his fate after his interaction with the devil is …show more content…
In Salem, the idea of witchcraft was a plague that spread throughout towns all over the country. Witchcraft being in the forefront of resident’s mind’s in towns made faith a constant everyday struggle. At this time Christianity was a major part of the culture of communities everywhere, the thought of witchcraft, however challenged the faith of some and got many wrongfully killed in false accusations. The struggle with faith was not relevant for everyone but the few that did struggle during this time may have been able to personally relate on some level with Brown’s conflict. Another theme within “Young Goodman Brown” was the emotion of hope. Being a man of faith Brown’s hope was not to lose his faith while going through his ordeal. “Well, she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven." (Hawthorne 1). Brown’s main hope however, was to return to Faith after his night of evil, suggesting this is the last time he will do anything of this magnitude ever again. A majority of Brown’s hope was put towards false ideas saying to himself that the members of his community were not part of the ceremony when in fact he knew they