Goodman Brown

Will Dennis

Awndrea Caves

Writing 102

3/6/15

Goodman Brown

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne uses a lot of imagery to reach the reader. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, home of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. The story starts out normally when Goodman Brown says goodbye to his wife one evening before he sets off for a night. At this point the reader is just thinking that it is going to be like any other story about a husband and wife living in a small town. His wife, Faith does not want him to leave because she says she feels scared when he is gone and she is free to think troubling thoughts. At this moment it becomes apparent that the story is going to discuss how much faith the average man has, and how much faith the world as a whole has. The reader will also see that some people who claim to be religious are actually some of the most hypocritical and evil people the world has to offer.

Before he leaves, Goodman Brown reassures his wife that no harm will come to her if she says her prayers and goes to bed early. With that he abandons her to embark on his journey. He sets off into a gloomy forest fearing that Native Americans or the devil might be behind the trees. Eventually he comes to where a man is standing, almost as if he had been expecting him. The man seemed normal, except for a walking stick with a serpent carved into it. Brown describes the serpent as “so lifelike it appeared to move” The Man offers it to Brown but he refuses, saying he “feels ashamed to be associating himself with the man”. At that moment Brown spots a well-respected woman from his village down the road coming towards them. Her name is Goody Cloyse, when Brown sees her he jumps into the bushes to avoid being seen with this man. When Cloyse talks to the man she identifies him as the devil and reveals herself to be a witch on her way to his ceremony.

Soon after he recognizes the voices of the Minister of the church and...