The “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne was a short story that was published in 1835. This detailed story starts off during one after hours night discussion that is dealing between the devil and a man. Reading this you can tell that it is what the story consists of. However, if you really dive into it to understand the story, you would find that the story is loaded with symbolic images.
In the beginning of the short story, he and his wife, the suitably named Faith, had only been married for three months he had stated. This would indicate that Goodman Brown is one who absences a profound part of belief. It is added evidence in his readiness to leave away from his wife to board on his evening trip. Even though Goodman Brown knows what is in store for him throughout his journey into the woods is not upright, he was seeing this brief experiment in the dark side as a one-time matter. The author really stresses that in the last sentence of paragraph seven when Goodman Brown whispered to himself “After this one night, I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven.” (paragraph seven)
It is safe to say that another additional symbolism to this short story is the setting which was taken place in the woods. In paragraph eight, the woods are portrayed to be in a murky, sinister dwelling where Goodman Brown was trekking down a “dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees in the forest.” The unwelcoming setting shows the bad conditions that he is about to find himself in. Regardless of the apparent malevolent presence that he is walking into, Goodman continues his dark journey walking into the night having the Devil as his leader.
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This signifies his incapability to release what hold the devil has on him now that he has let the sins he has made bring him to the spot that he is in now. In contrast to the eerie setting is his wife, Faith. She is one of his three principals that gives him the impression of having an idyllic life. One of the three principals that gives Goodman Brown the impression that he has an ideal life. But to Goodman Brown, Faith is much more than this. Faith as her name implies is seen by Goodman Brown to be a physical manifestation of his faith with Brown referring to her as “My love and my Faith.” (page 385 paragraph 3)
In this short story Faith had her own symbol which was mentioned to be a pink ribbon. During the story, the author made abundant references about it, one reference had referred to her as “Faith with the pink ribbons” which is in the fourth paragraph. Faith’s symbol is in the center of a crucial part near the end of the passage. In this portion, the Devil has wrecked Goodman Brown, and he has finally come to realize that it was a mistake. Even though he knew at that point it was a mistake he made a last attempt to keep a close hold onto his Faith when a pink ribbon landed on a tree branch that had fallen from the sky. This symbolizes the end of the fight for Goodman Brown, now a broken, faithless man Goodman Brown cries out “There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name. Come, devil, for thee is this world given.” (page 389)
Even though general faith played a deep role in the passage, it was particularly false faith. Seeing as how before he had a discussion with the devil, he believed he was a man of good faith so to him it made him believe everyone around also had that exact trait. However, it was revealed that the ones that stayed around him are more like a cult, than they were into a Christian congregation. He shortly begins to lose himself by hanging on to the thought of his wife and her strong faith. Unfortunately, this turns out to be untrue. Shortly after Goodman Brown was finally broken and turned himself over to the devil.
Later in the story you find that one of the largest symbol in the short passage was when he was discussing Satan. Over many, many years ago throughout all the eras, he has remained a symbol for being the upmost evil. You will find in the story that Satan signifies numerous things. The number one would be being the root of evil that lives in us. You could definitely tell because when they first met up in the woods he was describing Satan as looking like an older version of Goodman Brown. The Author has him resembling like a father and son. He is said to have been carrying a walking stick that is in the same shape as a snake and ever since the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis a snake has been used as a symbolic image of Satan.
He has been known to many as the “master of manipulation” and being the only one that can easily destroy someone’s life, views, and the world that is surrounding them. It is perfectly laid out in paragraph eighteen when the true discovery of his wife was brought to light. He and his family had never been the type that would sway in the devil’s vicious ways. One of the things Satan had said to him was “I helped your grandfather, the constable when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem.” He also said that he was the one who brought his father a pine knot so that he could set an Indian village on fire during King Phillips war. (page 387)
Goodman started realized what was going on and became confused. He had always believed that both his father and his grandfather were great examples of Christian men. Satan did not stop there though, he had to keep telling him things like that so that he would know not only did he commit sin, but he did it in Satan’s shadow pretty much. It makes you start to think just how much evil is out there in this world. Even though we may think good of someone does not necessarily mean they are good. Anyone could be in collaboration with the devil and all of his unrighteous ways.
In the ninth paragraph where Goodman Brown now has himself in the darkest place he could he starts to say, “There may be a devilish Indian behind every three, what if the devil himself should be at my very elbow!” (paragraph 9). That symbolizes the devil’s capability to come in a person’s life and remain in some parts of it totally off the grid until it is too late.
So there you have it, the descriptive story of Young Goodman Brown. It can be viewed in one of two ways. The story may appear to some as nothing more than the story of a good man who undergoes a terrible occurrence. However, after analyzing the story you can tell it is a much and shows how important faith is, and how you can be made or broken from it.
