Faith: The Devil's Tool?

Young Goodman Brown is recognized as one of the greatest short stories in American literature where Nathaniel Hawthorne addresses themes of evil and hypocrisy in expressing his views on Puritanism. He questions Puritanism labeling it as ambiguous and hypocritical in its teachings. He believes all men are inherently evil, therefore, Puritans are hypocritical in saying they are good holy men. This hypocrisy is reflected several times in the story; therefore, I feel background information is crucial for the understanding of “Young Goodman Brown” to see where the writer is coming from, what issues he is addressing, and to understand the history of the Salem witch trials.

     There is a dark foreboding atmosphere since the start even in the sunset as Goodman kisses his wife. She begs him to stay this night “of all nights in the year”, and says “[t]hen God bless you” but “there was trouble in her face” (Charters 357). This tells us she knows something he doesn’t know and he dismisses her as an “angel on earth” (357). Goodman is a puritan who is taking a path through a dark forest and this is interesting as it is symbolic of the writer delving into the teachings of Puritanism, which he feels are dark and mislead just like Goodman in the forest. The Puritan belief is that all beings are evil and each person must come to terms with this and realize their sinful nature. I think this is why Goodman took the forest path to reflect on his sin but it overcame him and ultimately caused his downfall as it was a path of evil which he walked alongside the devil.

The Devil portrayed as a white Puritan with a serpent stick

     Goodman even asks himself: “What if the devil himself should be at my very elbow?”, and just then a man appears with an “indescribable air of one who knew the world” (358). He seemed to have a power over Goodman to “unconsciously resume his walk” (358). When the old lady refers to him as the devil, he replies: “Then Goody Cloyse knows her old friend” (359). It seems to me that the old man with the serpent stick is surely the devil. The pastor of Salem village Samuel Parris wrote in 1692 that “[t]he Devil hath been raised amongst us, & his rage is vehement & terrible” (Trask ix). The old woman can be seen as a witch as she is an old friend of this mysterious man: “[w]itches were thought to be humans, typically women, who had agreed to serve the devil” (Trask x). To strengthen my case in claiming the old man to be the devil, I must point out that as well as the things I’ve mentioned of his power over Goodman, etc. he is never addressed by any name which to me seems dark and evil and a serpent is seen as a symbol of Satan: “[c]onde attacks the Christian metaphysical symbolism of black/white at its core; by representing the Serpent, or Satan, as a white Puritan” (Salhi 156). He is addressed once by the old lady and she calls him the devil.

Witches supposedly carried out the Devil's work

     I think the people of the secret meeting all worked for this man: “In return for favors and certain amazing powers from the Devil, they attempted to help “The Old Deluder” bring ruin upon the Christian community” (Trask x). I think this is what actually happened in the story. It seems to me they stripped Goodman of his belief in God taking away his Faith meaning his actual faith and his wife. As she was present at this meeting he can no longer thrust anybody and as he was a good Christian; the Devil has succeeded in bringing ruin to a member of the Christian community subjecting him to a life of loneliness and despair and a dying hour of gloom.

     The loss of faith touches off the hypocrisy of Puritanism where the writer wants to show that the religion was contradictory. Hypocrisy is seen all through the story where Goodman sees his father and grandfather as “good Christians” but they “lashed the Quaker woman” and “set fire to an Indian village” (Charters 358). Many a pleasant walk they had along the path with the old man (358). Goodman realizes his own family was a part of this secret group and finds it hard to believe: “We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness” (359). I think the writer may be referring to his own great-great-grandfather John Hathorne, “one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692” when and where this story is set (Liukkonen). Goodman may be a representation of Hawthorne himself with his sense of shame towards his ancestors for their evil deeds and with his negative view of Puritanism. In fact the more background reading I do on Nathaniel Hawthorne, the more convinced I become that this short story is a reflection of his life. The death sustained by Goodman at the end is the exact same as the writer’s mother Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne who withdrew to a life of seclusion, which she maintained till her death” (Liukkonen).

     He starts to feel despair hearing the old man say, “[t]he deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporter of my interest” (Charters 359). Goodman is disgusted by the hypocrisy of church officials exclaiming that the minister’s voice would make him “tremble both Sabbath day and lecture day” (359).

     It is necessary to gather background information to help in the understanding of Young Goodman Brown. There are many symbols in the story that need to be looked up and extra information gives us a more in-depth look at the themes of evil and hypocrisy explored by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Reading about Hawthorne’s life and history gives us clues as to why he wrote “Young Goodman Brown” and explains a lot of the story to us in a much clearer light. In doing my background research on this short story, I was intrigued by the skill of the writer and I feel that Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is 100% deserving of being called one of the greatest short stories in American literature.

Cited Works

Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 357-359. Print

Liukkonen, Petri. "Nathaniel Hawthorne." www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Creative Commons, 2008. Web. 16 Feb 2011. <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hawthorn.htm>.

Salhi, Kamal. Francophone Post-Colonial Cultures Critical Essays. 1st ed. New York: Lexington Books, 2003. 156. eBook.

Trask, Richard B. "The Devil hath been raised" A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692. Rev. ed. Danvers: Yeoman Press, 1997. ix-x. Print.