Young Goodman Brown

Disillusionment is a hard thing for anyone to face, and when disillusionment seems to tear down the very foundation we are building our lives on, it can be crushing indeed. Nathaniel Hawthorne could not have been a stranger to this experience; in his story “Young Goodman Brown” he gives us an allegory of the pain and struggle all Christians face when their innocent and youthful faith is challenged by the encounter of what may be considered hypocrisy in themselves and others. Young Goodman Brown’s marriage to Faith, the community they live in, and the forest where Goodman Brown faces his greatest challenge, are all symbols that help us understand this painful struggle.

The most important elements in the story are young Goodman Brown himself and his marriage to Faith. Young Goodman Brown represents any young Christian forced to grow up; in fact it is only in the beginning of the story that he is referred to as young Goodman Brown, later he is simply “Goodman Brown”. ...