Reading Guide: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "Young Goodman Brown"
1. What is the significance of the title? Explore the implications of the main
character’s name.
2. When does the story take place both in historical period and time of day?
3. Contrast the forest and the town.
4. Who narrates the story? Is narration first person or third person?
5. What do we learn about Goodman Brown’s wife at the beginning of the story?
What is her name? What symbolic article of clothing is she wearing?
6. What is Brown’s motive for leaving his wife?
7. What symbolism is associated with nature and the forest?
8. Note the several references to Native Americans. With what rites are they
associated?
9. Whom does Brown first meet in the forest? What thoughts does Brown have
before he meets him? What are some of the stranger’s qualities? What does he
carry?
10. How does the devil persuade Brown to continue his journey?
11. Note the stages of Brown’s disillusionment. Whom else does Brown encounter on
his journey? Consider Brown's state of mind just before each encounter. What do
these sinners have in common?
12. What kind of ceremony are they going to attend?
13. Why doesn’t Brown turn back? Who else is to be taken into communion?
14. What sound drives Brown to further despair?
15. What specific sins does the devil promise the potential communicant he will learn
to recognize? What deeper mysteries will he come to understand?
16. If they consent to the devil’s "baptism," what evil fate will overtake Goodman
Brown and Faith?
17. By what act does Goodman Brown break the evil spell? What is the effect of his
words on Faith? Why does he abjure her to resist evil, rather than himself? In
what state does he find himself after his shout of resistance?
18. What events trouble Goodman Brown on his walk home? How does Faith greet
him?
19. What lasting effect does Brown’s experience have on him, on his perception of
others, and on his family life? What is written on his tombstone? Describe his
dying hour.
20. To what extent does it matter whether Brown really dreamed that this meeting
took place?
21. How do you interpret the scene when Brown comes home to his wife?
22. Where are some of the significant gaps and ambiguities of the story? Look
through the story for qualifying words like "perhaps" or "maybe."