Analysis of symbolism in `Young Goodman Brown`

In Young Goodman Brown , a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne the author uses symbols that , on the surface , represent well-known conventional imageries depicting the contrasting sides of good and evil Against the backdrop of seventeenth century Salem , it narrates the journey begun at dusk by a young man , married but three months earlier to pretty Faith , to join the midnight congregation of devil worshippers in the woods . On the way he comes across people whom he had always believed to be upright and holy , like the minister and Goody Cloyse , but

who are in fact in league with the devil . He wavers at the outset but plunges on upon seeing his wife 's pink ribbon fluttering through the trees , until he arrives at the unholy altar . He strives to resist and urges Faith to do so when the communion begins , and wakes up the following morning not knowing if he had dreamed or not , but his faith is destroyed by the experience and he lives in distrust and misery to the end of his days . The names and symbols used by Hawthorne suggest that he had intended this tale as a satire on the religious life of the faithful in Salem

The name of the main character , Young Goodman Brown , like that of his father , Old Goodman Brown , is mere label . The son is informed by his mysterious guide that his father had set fire to an Indian village , in King Philip 's War ' He is also told that his grandfather lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem , perhaps for being condemned as a witch (642 . Is Hawthorne suggesting that no one is really good , after all ? Young Goodman Brown himself appears to be a good ' man , coming from a supposedly good ' family . And yet he deigns to join the fiendish congregation in the forest against his better judgment , leaving his wife behind . By using the name Goodman ' and exposing the persons by which they are called as the very opposite of its meaning , the author in effect tells us not to take appearances at their face value , in the same manner that Jesus told His disciples to be wary of wolves in sheep 's clothing ' It bears allusion to the rebuke heaped by Jesus Christ on the religious hypocrites of his day who walked around in long robes and preached righteousness but inwardly were whited sepulchres (Matt . 23 .27

The setting of the story , typical of Hawthorne , serves to create an atmosphere of gloom , foreboding , despair . Young Goodman Brown takes the road darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest (641 . He is emboldened perhaps by the excitement of being at the communion as a young person is overcome by curiosity that ultimately leads to temptation and sin . Hawthorne uses this conventional symbol to illustrate that the journey is of an unholy nature . That the young man travels in darkness instead of light means he is up to no good purpose Also , one...