Young Goodman Brown

3 Pages 828 Words

Reaction to “Young Goodman Brown”
“Young Goodman Brown” is an intriguing story that has been analyzed and debated for years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and learned a great deal from it. I believe that this story is one of the best stories ever written.
“Young Goodman Brown,” a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is about a man who tests his faith and takes a journey with the devil in a dark forest. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. Goodman Brown had an internal conflict between good and evil. Even though his wife, Faith, tried to persuade him not to go, he felt that he needed to go on this trip that night. The devil kept persuading him to walk deeper and deeper into the forest. The deeper he walked the closer he was to evil. The devil showed Brown how many of the others he knew had already been on this trip including Faith, his father, his grandfather, the town deacon, and his old catechism teacher. Goodman Brown could not believe that these people he knew as good Christians would ever do such a bad thing. He did not realize that he was just as bad by doing the same thing when he met the devil. When he returned home he shut himself off from the world, because he saw it as !
completely evil.
I liked this story because it does a great job of portraying the theme of good and evil. Young Goodman Brown failed to realize that nobody is perfect because everyone sins. According to Angie Soler, “Hawthorne intended for the reader to become aware of the depravity accompanied by sin. He intended for the reader to view the reality of sin and the terror of the human hell that was revealed to Brown.” Brown judged and condemned others for sin without looking at his own sinfulness. I know that I sometimes look at other people and judge them. Hawthorne creatively showed me that this is not the right thing to do. By rejecting all of society and isolating him...