Young Goodman Brown s Failure to Mature
Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of a young man’s loss of faith in the innocence of humans in “Young Goodman Brown”. He portrays this young man’s loss of hope as the result of a journey into the woods of sin. In these woods, Goodman Brown is lead on a journey by a man that is widely considered to be the Devil. ... Brown to many people that he places on a pedestal. These people are shown in a much different light in the woods than Goodman Brown is accustomed to seeing. ... Goodman Brown is shocked to see these individuals, including his deacon, pastor, and many others, guilty of such sins. This journey has been said to symbolize a wide range of emotions and ideals, such as a man’s loss of hope for mankind, and the battle between good and evil. While the story represents a wide array of ideas and beliefs, most importantly, “Young Goodman Brown” illustrates a young man’s initiation into adulthood that he has failed to accomplish. While it is widely believed that Young Goodman Brown has failed in his opportunity to mature, there is a small number of critics who proclaim the opposite to be true. Rena Korb describes Brown as an inconsistent character, one who starts out as a naïve young man believing in his own free will to turn back on a sinful promise. ... In her attempt to prove this point of view she cites Young Goodman Brown’s challenges of the Devil. For example, she states that when Young Goodman Brown discovers that his wife, Faith, is attending a Black Mass, he rushes through the woods with the Devil’s Page 3 serpent-like staff in hand. ... This, however, is a weak argument, and it is more widely recognized that Young Goodman Brown has actually wasted his opportunity to mature as a person.