Hawthorne "Young Goodman Brown"

In his work, “Young Goodman Brown,” Hawthorne accomplishes the task of engaging the reader and maintaining his attention on the moral standing of Goodman Brown. As I read, I was very curious to discover whether Goodman would fall into the temptation and lure of the man in the forest. We know through the text that Brown had mixed feelings about going into the forest, however he pursued his “present evil purpose” through his justification that he could “cling to the skirts” of his wife Faith, appropriately named, and follow her to heaven. It was difficult to narrow down a specific passage that I could use as an all encompassing vehicle for the interpretation of Hawthorne’s work, however I discovered that the entire setting used in the story can serve to understand the theme of secrecy. With the knowledge that Puritan society abided by a strict moral code I came to think that the curiosity for that which is forbidden or unknown is inevitable in human nature. Although ministers were the authority on religious instruction of the time, many puritans had their own secret ideas on how they could practice their religion. Brown traveling to the forest appears to be an allusion to Eden in pursuit of the forbidden fruit. The man that walks with him carried a staff in the shape of a serpent more so represents a devil figure. In many ways it is the perfect analogy to puritans that yearn for their own meaning using a story from the Bible good Christians would be more than familiar with. In the story of Adam and Eve there is a fall of innocence by eating from the tree of knowledge. Similarly, Brown is guilty of following his desire to enter the forest while his wife Faith, more of a symbol of his own faith, looses her innocence, as Eve, for being discovered in the Sabbath. I feel as though 19^th century readers would have found Hawthorn’s work to be an enlightening tale since it spoke of an idea that perhaps was on everyone’s mind, but was just kept as part of the secret self.

In all actuality, one cannot escape the tendency to be a free thinker of one’s own mind. Today, we are lucky to live in society that nurtures free thinking and innovation, however when people are oppressed to any degree they must live in secrecy to hide their inner thoughts and impulses. What we must learn from Hawthorne is that with more knowledge comes more responsibility and we must remain rooted in the ideas we value most. I believe this is best captured when his wife is about to be initiated and he states “look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one.” Here Brown fears loosing his spiritual faith, that which may be diluted by more reason and more knowledge.