Young Goodman Brown

I find Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown a truly haunting tale.
It spoke of a young man named Goodman out on the forest with the devil.

Through the covenant Goodman has made with the Devil, he has agreed to leave his wife, Faith, and walk through the forest with the Devil for one night as the Devil attempts to convert Goodman from Christianity.

Goodman enters into this task with great resolve that his survival and test of faith will not change, but the depth of his faith is fairly easily uprooted.

As Goodman and the Devil are walking, Goodman comes upon his old catechism teacher, Goody Cloyse, who is headed to the Devil’s meeting that Goodman is being led to. Goodman is stunned at the sight of her, as he had considered her his moral and spiritual guide.

This is the beginning of where Goodman’s faith fails. As Goodman continues on, he sees many of the townspeople he had respected and admired so much for their devout faith in God.

Goodman’s faith begins to crumble because his Achilles heel was the pride he had in believing he was a pious man. His faith was never based on an internal relationship with God; instead, his faith was mirrored and reflected by the community he revered. As those around him showed their true following, Goodman lost all faith, and became empty.

He did not actually convert to a non-believer as others had done. But still, he chooses an equally dangerous path. By losing his faith in everything even in his loved ones, Goodman merely exists and not lives. He believes that faith has failed him and he turns his anger to the world. He sees everything as evil and not worthy of his trust even his new bride.

The Bible tells us that it isn’t enough to have faith to be able to live life. Hope and love are necessary ingredients in a fulfilled, happy life.

Goodman Brown lives on his fragile faith alone. And his lack of faith quashes what little hope he has. His biggest loss is his inability to love. Because he distances himself from others and judges them, he fails to see them as individuals worthy of his love.

Love the sinner, hate their sins. That is the core of Christian religion. And because Goodman Brown fails to grasp the importance of love above all, he fails to live meaningfully. He ends up a failure. He dies lonely and alone. Goodman Brown was buried with “no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom.”