Commentary on Young Goodman Brown Essay

In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne tells the story of a young man finding out man's true character in an imaginary visit to hell. He comes across a world where everyone is just as evil as the next, including the most holy of people. Brown decides to go on a night journey, with some kind of evil intentions. He is directed to his destination by a man who reminds him of his grandfather. He arrives at the end when he hears his wifes voice calling out. Faith, Browns wife, is the only good in his life, but soon realizes she might be captured by evil. Goodman Brown is fearful of what is happening.

Hawthorne's description of the devil is far from brutal, rather, he is portrayed as more of a father-figure, speaking to the congregation as his children. The figure remains rather unclear; he does not have a specific identity. He is constantly referred to as a dark figure, as sort of shadow between the flames. In one sentence, Hawthorne uses the words "deep," "solemn," and "almost sad" to describe the figure's manner. The devil's speech asks the people to wake up and face reality, there is no good, and that evil is the best description of man. He emphasizes that people are unified under the fact that everyone is evil. The devil explains everyone that they are evil, and they need to accept it. People can live happily if they only realize that evil is the way we are meant to be, trying to fight it is pointless. The congregation accepts his welcome and feels victorious even though they are condemning themselves.

Throughout the story, the importance is the presence of religious figures. They also seem to be the most powerful ones that drove Brown to want to make it to the end of the evil forest. Brown is most surprised when he realizes that those whom he had looked up to as holier people were all in hell with the sinful common people. Everyone is equal. On p.555, Brown observes, "It was strange to see, that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints." Hawthorne makes the point that there are no superiors in this world.

Brown returns from his imaginary journey, he holds disrespect for everyone, including his wife, Faith. He looks at the church in contempt, knowing that the minister and deacon are full of lies, as they are sinners themselves. He can not trust anyone, not even own his wife anymore. He has no sympathy for him fellow men and women, he only feels sorry that they are not trustworthy. In the last sentence of the story, we see that Brown dies alone, a miserable man: "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom (p.557).

Hawthorne makes clear the irony of believing that everyone is evil, yet giving power and superiority to supposed "divine" religious men. His hell is an unmasking of the phony goodness that the Church created. But at the same time, he is not condemning the whole world as evil but, the idea of "Evil" created by the church is unreasonable. Brown returns and is miserable. Brown comes back with the idea that everyone was evil led him to be very unhappy. The Church can be like the devil, telling us people are evil and that we should look down upon some, yet almost worship others. In Hawthorne's hell, the strict morals of people is taken to the extreme, and proven irrational.