Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown", is a portrayal of seventeenth-century Puritan society. It is a tale of a young Puritan man who is drawn into a covenant with the Devil which causes him to think differently about his neighborly townsmen. Hawthorne's message within the story is that the positivity in religion does not continuously and dominantly strive. There will always be negativity along with positivity even in the purity of religion because that is the balance of the world. Goodman Brown as a Puritan is taught to believe in the purity of God and is devoted to the church and to take a walk on the dark side forces him to question this purity.
Faith is one of the biggest aspect of religion, but even Brown realized faith can turn bad also. In the beginning of the story, goodman brown had to depart from Faith, his wife. ""What wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! 't would kill her to think it..."(p. 233) This symbolized him leaving his own faith of God since he is traveling to see the other side of heaven. Faith was worried that her husband will be harmed especially when she cannot be with him just as if actual faith is being drawn apart from him. More over, Faith later on joins Goodman Brown in the dark forest which shocks Brown when he says ""My Faith is gone!" cried he, after one stupefied moment. "There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given.""(p. 238) Even faith, the one pure piece of Brown, has turned towards the devil and it automatically makes Brown doubt purity.
Goody Cloyse is anothe rexample of purity gone wrong. She is Goodman Brown's teacher of cateschism and she represents the "best of the best" of Puritan society. When he sees her in the forest, he exclaims ""That old woman taught me my catechism!" said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment."(p. 236) and that showed his doubt in purity once again. Her piety and righteousness are the models he looks up to and to see her as a part of the devil's covanent, shatters those values. He is hurt and confused that such a pure woman would be in the same group as the devil.
There is no such thing as a world full of only purity, innocence, and positivity. Evil will always coincide with good and as a puritan since young, Brown finally realizes that after his adventure in the forest. Even the purest of the purest can be sinful because that is life.
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There's no doubt that what happened in the forest changed his perspective, but I don't think Brown realises that evil coincides with good. The way he tries to shut out everyone in the town after the night in the forest shows that the event actually made him realise that everyone's evil- that's why Brown ignored the minister when he tried to bestow a blessing on him (he also can't listen to the deacon preach and he had to take the girl away from goody Cloyse when she was teaching the girl catechism). The night in the forest radically changed Brown's perspective and because of it, Brown came to believe that there is no good in anyone around him. The fact that Faith was also at the communion doesn't just make Brown doubt the existence of purity, it placed him in the mindset that there is no good at all in this world. His loss of Faith (faith in the goodness of mankind, faith in his fellow townsmen, and faith in his religion) made him distant himself from the rest of society, resulting in his dying hour being gloom.
ReplyDeleteYou have some good ideas, but some of the sentences do not read smoothly, such as: "Evil will always coincide with good and as a puritan since young, Brown finally realises that after his adventure in the forest." It would be better if it was: "Being raised as a Puritan since his youth, Brown finally realises that evil will always coincide with good after his adventure in the forest."