The "young Goodman Brown" Story, an Act of Faith

In his story "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne cleverly projects his attitude about the Puritan religion choosing a Christian love over the Puritan religion in this story of a mans journey to a revival. The name Hawthorne gave to his character is also significant as it implied Goodman Brown was a good man and the color brown meant that he was not perfect nor was he evil. This story highlights Goodman's commitment and faith to his wife's love and Christianity over the Puritan religion ultimately causing him to be subjected to suspicion by the community at a time where witch-hunts subjected the innocent to suffering and death.

The story takes place at sunset in a Salem village during a difficult time for religion. Goodman keeps from his wife the details and purpose of his journey. He tells her good bye and makes it obvious he is leaving her behind out of obligation. He intentionally describes his wife's beauty as well as her love and desire for him. He did this to convey the first time he overcame temptation in favor of his religious obligation. His wife Faith reveals her inner desires for him. She attempts to convince him to stay but he externally exhibits his commitment to his religion obligation to make the journey while internally he is unsure about his religious convictions. Goodman reassures his wife of his faith in their relationship and assures her of his return. No doubt Hawthorn meant to show Brown's faith in the couples love for each other and the difficult choice he made to go on his journey. He leaves her behind, which shows that he is leaving sin behind because he resisted the temptation to stay due to his obligation to go. "Dearest heart, " whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "pr'ythee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed tonight. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year! " "My love and my Faith, " replied young Goodman Brown, "of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise. As a result, Goodman and his wife were fulfilling their obligations and obedience to each other. The deeper meaning of his departure is reinforced in that both were sacrificing their humanly need in favor of religious obedience.

Perhaps he felt guilt in having to participate in a witch-hunt meeting. History documented witch-hunts and community members were all subject to distrust. In the story, Hawthorne gives us an accounting of residents whose minds were on trial and he unwittingly became a victim to the Puritan religion. He brings to light the difficulty of discerning the difference between witches and saints. "It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints." "Friend,'' said he, stubbornly, my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?'' Whether by guilt or deeply embedded Christian beliefs, Goodman subtly defies the Puritan churches teaching by not making it to the revival. He blamed himself for his nonattendance when he realizes that he had only dreamed about the revival. His dream caused Goodman to be frozen with fear, consumed with guilt and doubt about

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