In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Young Goodman Brown, the author’s primary concern is with the concept of evil and how it affects Young Goodman Brown. Through the use of tone and setting, Hawthorne portrays the nature of evil and the psychological effects it can have on man. He shows how discovering the existence of evil brings Brown to view the world in a cynical way. Brown learns the nature of evil and, therefore, feels surrounded by its presence constantly.

Brown’s attitude and actions portray a negative view of Salem and its people. He ponders the hypocrisy of the town as well as that of the Puritans. He examines the possibility that evil and corruption exist in a town that is supposedly characterized by piety and devout faith.

The story is set in seventeenth-century Salem, a time and place where sin and evil were greatly analyzed and feared. The townspeople, in their Puritan beliefs, were obsessed with the nature of sin and with finding ways to be rid of it altogether through purification of the soul. At times, people were thought to be possessed by the devil and to practice witchcraft. As punishment for these crimes, some were subjected to torturous acts or even horrible d

Taken at a literal level, the story is about a man who goes on a journey to the forest and encounters various strange situations. However, the narrator is working on two levels. There are objects and characters in the story which are representative of something else. For instance, Brown’s wife, Faith, represents religious faith. She also exemplifies what it means to be a good woman and wife. He worries that Faith’s dreams are warnings although she is his only justification for making the evil journey. She is his hope for an ‘excellent future’. Brown describes her as, “blessed angel on earth” and promises that after this one night, he will, “cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven” (2207). When Brown, in utter despair, cries out, “My Faith is gone,” (2212) he refers not only to his wife but also his faith in God. He also alludes to his wife Faith as his spiritual faith when he tells the stranger, “Faith kept me back awhile” (2208). Literally, he means that he arrived late as a result of the conversation with his wife. However, because we know the implications of Hawthorne’s tone, we realize he was kept back by something more. We can assume that it is because deep down, possibly through a surfacing of his unconscious, he knows that he is not commencing a harmless journey.

the idea that life is pure, grand, and good. At his funeral, his family has nothing encouraging to put on his grave, and neighbors do not even bother to attend. Thus, he is depicted, even in death, as an individual unable to find happiness in his own family and friends.

He uses contrast as a means to portray the village as good and the forest as bad. This adds significance to the fact that Brown begins his journey in the town and proceeds then to the forest. The use of imagery captures the appearance of the forest as well as lending a sense of foreboding towards the impending evil. Hawthorne says of Brown, “He had taken a dreary road, darkened by the gloomiest trees of the forest…It was all as lonely as it could be” (2208).

Brown is an everyman. Thus, his journey is one many people have traveled in the past and will travel in the future. Hawthorne is suggesting that everyone at some point experiences the struggle between good and evil within themselves. As members of today’s society, we are immersed in the evil ways of man at an early age. All we must do is watch the evening news one night to feel bewildered at the incessant commitment of evil deeds. In a sense, Brown’s experience in the forest is our reality, what we are faced wit

Some topics in this essay:
Hawthorne Brown, Goody Cloyse, Goodman Brown, Nonetheless Hawthorne, Brown Faith, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, discovery evil, goodman brown, wife faith, nature evil, brown begins, brown begins journey, evil brown, spiritual faith, begins journey, experience forest, entering forest,