Young Goodman Brown

3 Pages 853 Words

“Young Goodman Brown”
Nathaniel Hawthorn was born into a Puritan family in 1804. Because of this many of his novels contained topics on ethical problems of sin, punishment, and atonement. His stories were all based in the seventeenth century when many things were happening to the puritan’s. Hawthorn’s story, “Young Goodman Brown”, is a prime example of this, where the story’s setting is in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trails. The reader sees many decisions being made by Brown that will reflect the rest of his life. These decisions can be seen through the theme, symbolism, and irony that takes place throughout the story.
The theme of Nathaniel Hawthorn‘s “Young Goodman Brown,” is that everyone faces the conflicts of good and evil during their lives. The journey through this time of conflict becomes very difficult for Brown because of his inner desires pulling him in different directions. The first inner desire that he must face, is the desire to become a witch. The readers see this in the first of the story when Young Goodman Brown sets out on his own at night. The journey is one that can only be made at night for the Puritan’s did not go out at night because they labeled all who did as a witch. The story shows this main reason in the eight paragraph when it says, “With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose.” (Page 317, line 25-26) Then the reader sees this decision change to good later in the story when he meets the devil in the woods and decides to turn back home before going any further into the woods.
As seen when Goodman Brown says, “Friend! Said the other, in exchanging his slow pace for a full stop, “having kept covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples touching the matter thou wot’st of.”” (Page 318, line 25-27) This battles of ones sou...