English Essay: Exploring Themes in 'Young Goodman Brown' by Hawthorne

This essay provides an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, 'Young Goodman Brown,' focusing on the protagonist's struggle with faith and the pervasive theme of hypocrisy within the community. The essay examines the symbolism employed by Hawthorne, particularly the use of the forest and the characters Brown encounters, such as Goody Cloyse and the dark figure, to represent the duality of human nature and the erosion of faith. The student highlights Brown's initial strong faith, his subsequent disillusionment during his journey, and his ultimate loss of trust in both individuals and institutions. The essay also explores how Hawthorne presents the changeable nature of individual thinking and the impact of societal pressures on one's beliefs. References to critical sources are included to support the arguments made throughout the essay. The author suggests that Brown's faith is based on certain facts and his beliefs are stunned after he came across the characters in the forest. The essay concludes by suggesting that the story emphasizes the complexities of faith and the potential for doubt to undermine one's deepest convictions.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
A Test of Faith
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
Nathaniel Hawthorne has written many illegible things in his short story named
“Young Goodman Brown” and it has been observed that the readers have to face lots of
problem to identify the main character of the story (Hawthorne, Nathaniel). The author has
used many symbols in his story and talk about the theory of witchcraft. However, all these
signs had not been described by him and that put a question mark in the minds of the reader
regarding the where about of the characters of his story. The way of approaching regarding
the faith of the men and the women has caused hatred in between the readers and the author
has failed to remove the doubts from the minds of the reader (Melville, Herman).
The depth of the faith engraved in the mind of Goodman Brown has been described in
an improper way and he has changed his feeling after he entered into a forest and met the
dark mass in there (Melville, Herman). He had prescribed that “And Faith, as the wife was
aptly named, thrust her own pretty head into the street, letting the wind play with the pink
ribbons of her cap” (Hawthorne, 79). According to the mental preparation of the author, it
was resembled first that the faith of both spouses are strong and author has shown the same
with the narration of Goodman Brown when he pray before the God and inculcate his name
before go to the bed by stating “Amen! Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and
no harm will come to thee” (Hawthorne, 79). Goodman Brown parted with a very strong
perspective and an “excellent resolve for the future” (Hawthorne, 80), and he “felt himself
justified in making more haste on his present evil purposes” (Hawthorne, 80). According to
the belief of Goodman, God will justify all the wrong works he had done so far and will reach
him home safely. He becomes blind in faith and the amount of faith has been revealed when
he replied back to the dark figure he met in the forest on asking his co-operation with the
figure in the forest. He had clearly stated that he had finalized his target to get out of the
forest and follow the path shown by the God and mentioned that “Having kept my covenant

2ENGLISH ESSAY
by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples by
touching the matter thous wot’st of” (Bell, Davitt).
Goodman Brown had failed to point out all the wrongs he had made and when the
dark figure asked him whether he is lamenting for all the wrongs, he had replied that “there is
my wife, Faith. It would break her dear little heart: and I’d rather break my own” . The author
of the story had used many fugitive words and presented the story in such a way that the
readers could take the view that Goodman Brown is a character who can do everything to
protect his faith. The author had characterized the intensity of the faith of Goodman brown by
stating the fact that his faith is stronger compared to the faith of the evil (Benjamin, Daniel).
However, Brown’s believe on faith had turned turtle when he saw certain things during his
journey and came across the black Sabbath. Goodman Brown had used the term faith many
times throughout the story and he had passed the entire buck on his faith when the black
figure had asked him to explain the cause of his late coming in the forest. The author has used
the name of his wife to make the reader understand about the compromising factors of
Brown. Brown was in shock when he had observed that many characters were come to the
meeting with their own interest and many of them hold high rank. The object of the meeting
is to resemble the fact that the number of sinners are spreading over all the stages of the
society irrespective of their ranks and posts (Leung, Daniel et al). However, Goodman got
many chances to interact with the different characters. At first he met Goody Cloyse who
according to Brown “a very pious and exemplary dame” and she had enchanted the
exemplary dame to Brown. Goodman had learnt the verses of catechism from her and he
could understand the real cause of her to come out in the dark forest.
However, it has been observed that the level of faith within the Goodman were about
to reduce after his meeting with Goody Cloyse when he “caught hold of a tree, for support,
being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and over burdened with the sickness of his

3ENGLISH ESSAY
heart”. He had lost his wife and the time he had found the pink ribbon of his wife’s hat; his
faith level had been decreased gradually and he had expressed his grievance by stating “my
Faith is gone! There is no good on earth, and sin is but a name.” His believes were become
stronger when he observed that all the persons he known to be pious and religious are sinners
in their actual form and they had called them as “A grave and dark-clad company”.
Therefore, it can be learnt from the above mentioned paragraphs that the level of faith
of Goodman has been reduced, but he had a little faith remained in his mind. It has been
observed that he attended the meeting of church on regular basis without pay any heed to the
anthem or verse pronounced in the church because “an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his
ear, and drowned all the blessed strain”. He trusts his faith irrespective of everything belongs
to him. By this story, the author wanted to identify the facts that the way of thinking of any
individual is changeable in nature. The author of the short story has been presented Goodman
as a hypocrite who had not thought about his wrongs ever. He had a faith that was based on
certain concocted facts and his believe has been stunned after he came across all the above
stated persons.

4ENGLISH ESSAY
Reference:
Bell, Michael Davitt. Hawthorne and the Historical Romance of New England. Princeton
University Press, 2015.
Benjamin, Daniel J., et al. "Redefine statistical significance." Nature Human Behaviour 2.1
(2018): 6.
Gim, Jeong-An, et al. "Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation before-and after exercise
in the thoroughbred horse with MeDIP-Seq." Molecules and cells 38.3 (2015): 210.
Goodman, Sherryl H., and Judy Garber. "Evidence‐Based Interventions for Depressed
Mothers and Their Young Children." Child development 88.2 (2017): 368-377.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Booklassic, 2015.
Leung, Daniel H., et al. "Baseline ultrasound and clinical correlates in children with cystic
fibrosis." The Journal of pediatrics 167.4 (2015): 862-868.
Melville, Herman. "Hawthorne and his Mosses." Literary World17 (2015): 17.