Young Goodman Brown

4 Pages 958 Words

Bewilderment

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” the main character, goodman Brown, undergoes a form of initiation. This initiation is brought forth by an elder dark figure. This figure, who actually is the devil, meets goodman Brown in the forest late in the evening. The devil leads goodman Brown deep into the forest where he encounters the biggest shock of his life. However, this trauma is too much for young goodman Brown, and it changes his life dramatically. After his experience in the woods, young goodman Brown is a changed man, and his new knowledge causes him to separate himself from the rest of the society. When goodman Brown separates himself from his society, he lives a life without friends because he fears being corrupted by everyone.
Goodman Brown goes into the forest a young man who has been married for only three months to his love, Faith. Being young and unable to understand the complexity of human nature, goodman Brown saw people as either sinners or saints, there was no in between for him. In Puritan times, to go into the forest at night was unholy and sacrilegious. In order for goodman Brown to go into the forest, he must leave behind his wife, his faith, his religion, and his community; and for what, his curiosity.
Once in the forest, the devil leads goodman Brown along a winding path in which goodman Brown begins to encounter his initiation. He comes across first goody Cloyse, who was the one that taught him his catechism. Goodman Brown wants to avoid any confrontation with goody Cloyse, so he cuts through the woods while the devil sticks to the path. It is when the devil approaches goody Cloyse that goodman Brown realizes that she is a follower of the devil, and good acquaintance. After this shock, goodman Brown refuses to proceed any further; however, the devil tries to convince him by saying, “‘You will think better of this, by-and-by’” (1239). Not wanting to press...