The theme of Nathaniel Hawthorn‘s “Young Goodman Brown,” is that everyone faces the conflicts of good and evil during their lives. The journey through this time of conflict becomes very difficult for Brown because of his inner desires pulling him in different directions. The first inner desire that he must face, is the desire to become a witch. The readers see this in the first of the story when Young Goodman Brown sets out on his own at night. The journey is one that can only be made at night for the Puritan’s did not go out at night because they labeled all who did as a

As seen when Goodman Brown says, “Friend! Said the other, in exchanging his slow pace for a full stop, “having kept covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples touching the matter thou wot’st of.”” (Page 318, line 25-27) This battles of ones soul takes place all throughout the story until Goodman Brown dies at the end. This is also true for everyone living today because temptation strikes around every turn in the road of life.

Irony plays an important role in this story because Hawthorn uses this as a way of keeping the readers in suspense for most of the story. About what the final decision will be that Goodman Brown finally makes on his present conflict. To demonstrate this irony, Hawthorne takes the traditional Puritan view of the untamed New England forest. To them the forest was not simply a physical wilderness, but also a wilderness of the soul: full of darkness, wild beasts, and "“There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree,” said Goodman Brown to himself; and he glanced fearfully behind him as he added, “What if the devil himself should be at my elbow!”"(Page 317 lines 34-36). To the Puritans, the wilderness was a savage place, that by conquering it and its inhabitants, they h

Some topics in this essay:
Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Massachusetts Salem, Brown” Symbolism, goodman brown, “young goodman, goodman brown”, “young goodman brown”, throughout story, Nathaniel Hawthorn‘s, , takes throughout story, symbolism irony, story hawthorn, hawthorne takes, hawthorn symbolism, story goodman, journey conflict, story goodman brown,