Symbolism_in_Young_Goodman_Brown

Young Goodman Brown In the short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne uses symbolism to describe a man’s journey as he struggles with a sin. This is a story that any Christian can apply to his or her life during a time when they have faced temptation or sin. In the story, Hawthorne used personification to describe Faith through Goodman Brown’s wife. As Goodman Brown starts his journey, he is forced to leave his wife, Faith, behind. This already suggests that the journey that Brown is about to go on isn’t a nice walk through the park. As he enters the forest, Brown meets another man, presumably the devil. When asked why he was late, Brown replied that “Faith held me back a while,”(Kelly 191). Here, Brown already hints that he may not want to be on that journey. Not long into the journey, he further expresses his desire to leave by stating, “[H]aving kept covenant by meeting thee here it is my purpose now to return whence I came,” (Kelly 192). The Devil ends up convincing him to stay a little longer even though Brown really wants to leave. This represents how hard it really is to turn away from a sin. You really want to turn away from the sin; however, you are not quite able to, whether it be the temporary pleasure you get from the sin or just curiosity. As he keeps walking through the forest, he sees his old Sunday school teacher, Goody Cloyse in the forest. He finds out that she is actually not who she seems she is. Seeing her as a witch, Brown finds himself again wanting to turn back and return to his Faith. However, the devil still convinces him to stay. As he continues the journey, Brown also sees the minister and Deacon Gookin in the forest. He realizes that they also have been living in sin. Seeing this, Brown gives what seems to be his strongest attempt to go back, saying, “With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (Kelly 196). This is a great depiction of when a Christian who has been struggling with a sin realizes what he is actually doing and is given a burning desire to turn away from the sin. As Goodman Brown looked up to pray, the devil played one of his best cards on him: the devil showed Brown that Faith was in the forest. Of course after seeing this, Brown is demolished, saying, “My Faith is gone!” (Kelly 197). This represents what the devil may do when a Christian realizes the seriousness of the sin he or she has been living in. The Devil may try to deceive him or her into believing that because of the sin, their faith is gone. The Christian feels hopeless after this; all that he or she has lived for is now gone. Even after seeing his Faith in the forest, Brown tries one last time to turn away, not by just simply walking out this time, but by challenging the devil himself. Brown is full of new hope and rage. This describes when the Christian realizes that it is not his actions that determine his or her Faith’s fate, but rather God, who has given the Faith from grace. As Brown runs through the forest, he comes upon what seems to be a witch gathering. He then realizes that they are trying to convert him from Christianity. He also realizes, to his horror, that his Faith is being tested. Seeing this he cries in despair, “Faith! Faith! ... Look up to Heaven, and resist the wicked one.” This represents the final decision that the Christian makes about whether to turn away from sin and live a life of Christianity or to give into temptation and live a life of sin. The story does not state whether Faith resisted or gave in. Although, we do know that what Faith did directly corresponds to what Brown did, for if Brown’s Faith resisted, that means he still had his Faith and was able to resist, but if Brown’s Faith gave in, that means that Brown lost his Faith to sin and also gave in. The exact same thing applies to the Christian; if they were able to keep Faith, they turned away from the sin; however, if they lost faith to the sin, they were not able to resist the temptation. Goodman Brown goes on to live a life of sadness and gloom. Whether this is because he believed that the people around him really were witches and wizards or because he lost his faith, one can’t be sure. The same thing applies to the Christian; he or she is the only one who can truly know what decision they made while facing sin.