The story of "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man and his faith in himself, his wife, and the community they live in. Brown must go on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return back to the village before sunrise. The story begins with Goodman Brown departing from his wife in the village to meet with and take a stroll in the forest with another traveler, the devil. Brown is happy with the local townspeople and with his faith at first, but soon he begins to doubt all the things he had faith in, including himself. Throughout the story Hawthorne uses setting and characters as symbols representing different aspects of good and evil and he uses the plot to develop the eventual win-over of evil over Goodman Brown's Faith.

Plot is used to develop the eventual win of evil over Goodman Brown's faith. The plot begins by leading the reader to believe that Goodman Brown will succeed in his journey and return home a holier man with a newly instilled strength in his faith. But as soon as Brown meets with the devil, he taxes

oneness with his faith. The town sets forth the image of a virtuous and godly place with the townspeople of good nature. This image hides the dark, sinful hearts the villagers have. Salem appears to be a godly, normal puritan village, but when one looks deep inside the village, ones sees a center of darkness (Riley 1). The story moves to the dark mysterious forest in the Puritan town. The deep dark forest represents the internal evil of the villagers (Riley 1). As Goodman Brown progress upon his travels, he reaches the center of the forest. The center of the forest can be seen as the place of sin for the villagers.

The deep, dark forest in the town represents the internal evil of the villagers. The villagers go to the forest to purge themselves of the evil within all of them. The forest is viewed as mysterious, unknown and inhabited by the devil. On the other hand, the town is viewed as pleasant, safe, and where Brown's "Faith" is. Hawthorne adds to the symbolism by personifying the trees "which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through" as Brown "walks alongside a dreary road" (Riley 2). B

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