Roberto Armentros
Humanities 104
February 16, 2000

Thesis: The author introduces evil images to tempt and delude Young Goodman Brown as he made his

way through the woods. Goodman Brown, through his journey, understands there is an evil side to

human nature


Young Goodman Brown Finds the Truth in The Woods


In the story "Young Goodman Brown," written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character Goodman

Brown is introduced as a well-mannered man who is happily married to Faith. Initially, the language such

as "sunset" and "pink ribbons" symbolizes light and a positive environment in Salem Village, where the

story takes place. Then, as Goodman Brown journeys through the woods, changes in the environment

make him change the way in which he sees the world and people around him.

From the time he decides to go to the woods at night, this peaceful panorama presented in his hometown

changes. Evil images like "devil, lonely thick boughs, "1 add an obscure and negative side to the story.

He had taken a dreary 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 (p. 62).

This example reflects the change in environment for Goodman Brown after he left the positive world of the

village. He felt he was passing through an unseen multitude since he could not know if there was someone

concealed by the trees. This situation makes him question: "What if the devil himself should be at my

very elbow" (p. 62). Goodman Brown, who wasn't aware of the existence of an evil side to the world,

is being introduced to it through the natural objects in the woods, which provided a warning sign of the

evil to come.

Subsequently, the author shifts the image of evil when Goodman Brown first arrived in the woods from

the physical characteristics of objects around him to evil associated with human beings. This change is

noticed after the apparition of the old man seated at the foot of an old tree. Apparently, the old man and

the main character can have be taken as father and son; but there is something significant about this 50 year

old man, his staff: "…which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might

almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent" (p. 62). The language suggests nothing good

can come from a 50 year old man walking alone at night in the woods carrying such a staff. In fact, the old

man represents the devil or evil spirit that encourages Goodman Brown, who is already hesitant, to continue

his journey through the woods. "Let us walk on, nevertheless, reasoning as we go; and if I convince thee not

thou shalt turn back" (p. 63).
As they walked, the old man continues to introduce Goodman Brown to the negative side of the world

by showing him that humans can also be evil.

I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker
woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought
your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an
Indian village, in King Philips war (p. 63).

This suggests that his father and grandfather had an evil side to them, which made him understand that no matter

how good a person may be, there is always an evil side to him. This creates a conflict in Goodman Brown's mind:

good versus evil. This conflict is intensified when, to his amazement, he finds the same well-respected woman

from his town who taught him his catechism, Goody Cloyse, walking in the woods at night. Then he hears her

comment:
My broomstick hath strangely disappeared, stolen, as I suspect, by that
unhanged witch, Goody Cory, and that too, when I was all anointed with
the juice of smallage and cinquefoil and wolf's bane (p. 64).

Realizing she is a witch, his good opinion of her turns into disappointment, which makes him question his belief

in his religion. At this point Goodman Brown wonders if he can really trust the people he knows and look at them

the same way he did before. However, he still has faith in his wife Faith and is glad she stayed back in Salem, away

from the woods. He is aware of the existence of evil in people, but not in his wife.

Eventually, the situation reaches a climax as evil images in nature and in humans appear in his way.

The whole forest was peopled with frightful sounds…while sometimes the
wind tolled like a distant church bell, and sometimes gave a broad roar
around the traveler, as if all Nature were laughing him to scorn (p.67).

In this example, the wind represents the effects of evil in the woods on him and is compared to the most sacred

place for the Puritans, the church. This proves that Goodman Brown has reasons to doubt his religion and even

his own faith. Consequently, on top of a rock that arose as a natural altar surrounded by four blazing pines and

an enormous multitude (p. 67) known to Goodman Brown, he finds his wife Faith about to be inducted as a witch.

Up to this point he had held onto his faith in his wife, but after seeing she is part of this ritual, he learns that even

Faith, his blessed angel on earth, has an evil side to her. Now, there is nothing keeping him from accepting the

lesson he had learned; there is an evil side to human nature. "Faith! Faith! Look up to heaven, and resist the wicked

one" (p. 70), said he to his wife. Instantly, the ritual and everything going on disappears and solitude is all that was left.

These words show Goodman Brown's own reflection. Although he is addressing Faith, he had to stop and judge his

own belief and faith. In fact, the environment of the woods and the recognition of his fellow men participating in evil

acts make Goodman Brown lose his own faith.
At last, when he comes back to Salem Village he is a completely changed person. "A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative,

a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream" (p. 70). Now the natural

world and even his wife and fellow Puritans reveal a concept of evil to him. This makes him lose his faith in his religion

and his own people. "My faith is gone! … There is no god on earth; and sin is but a name. Come devil; for to thee is

this world given" (p. 67). Whenever the minister talked about the sacred truths of religion, with the bible in his hands:

"…then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his

hearers" (p.70). His new attitude towards life in the village is a measure of his acceptance of the idea that man is doomed

by "original sin."












End Note

1 Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown," in Literature: Reading and
Writing the Human Experience, eds. Richard Abcarian, Marvin Klotz, Peter
Richardson, 7th ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998), p.62.
All further citations refer to this edition and will be given in the text.