"Young Goodman Brown"

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the overall theme is man vs. evil. The story contains religious imagery, such as Goodman’s wife being called “Faith”. Husband and wife become one in marriage spiritually and physically. Goodman struggles internally with having faith and being a good man, as Hawthorne uses this allegory with their names. Young Goodman Brown questions his beliefs and takes a journey to question his own spirituality and beliefs.
Goodman leaves his wife to make this trip, with his wife representing faith. Hawthorne uses the act of Goodman leaving his wife to show Goodman is questioning his faith in an allegorical sense. The forest allegorically represents the choice to take the journey of evil. The further Goodman travels into the forest, the deeper into his evil consciousness he dwells in. Hawthorne uses the night to show that Goodman was i...