Commentary on Young Goodman Brown Essay

Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown is a story about a young man who leaves his wife, of 3 months, to go on an over night trip. Goodman Brown does not tell his wife where he is going or the purpose of his trip. Later it is shown that Young Goodman Brown is going into the dark forest to meet with an older gentleman and they are on their way to the covenant. Later into the story it seems that the man Goodman Brown is going into the forest is none other than the Devil himself who is taking him into the forest to convert him to deviltry. After a lot of thought Brown decides he does not wish to go with the man instead he wishes to go back home to his wife Faith. Brown is very happy with his decision and feels proud that he can go to church on Sunday with his head held high and faith in his heart. Brown starts to leave when he hears some voices and after a moment he seems to recognize the voices because these voices belong to none other than the priest and the deacon of his church. It appears that they are going in the same direction as the devil. Even though this was shocking to Goodman Brown it was nothing compared to what he saw next. Faith, his angelic wife, was also walking in the direction of the devil. It was at that moment that Goodman Brown realized that there was no goodness in the world only people with many hidden sins. All the people he saw that night in the forest were from his community, these were the same people he grew up knowing and respecting. Brown had always thought very highly of everyone there, but that one moment changed his outlook about everyone there. It was at that moment that his life turned upside down, because after that moment he could not look at the people in his community the same way and he could not love his wife Faith the same way either. After that night every time Brown sat in the church hearing the priest and the deacon speak he only heard lies and all of the holy hymns sounded like satanic chanting to him.

In many ways, if we think about it, this story has a deeper meaning to it. Goodman Brown had spent his whole life being a decent respectable man who goes to church every Sunday and never thinks ill of anyone and only sees goodness in people around him. Though, that one night in the forest, dream or reality, turned his life upside down. Now he understood that no one is pure for everyone sins no matter whom he/she is. That is the message Hawthorne, the author, is trying to convey. Nobody in this world is without sins. Everybody has their faults but people do have goodness in them and it is up to us to forgive their sins and accept them for what they are because even we are not perfect. Due to the fact that Goodman Brown only saw goodness and purity in his community, he was never able to overlook this point that they might have sinned in their lives, that they were not perfect. Due to this fact Goodman Brown lived a long miserable life as a cynical man who later died a miserable death. For his dying hour was gloom. (Hawthorne)