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Adam Faust
Mrs. Jean Scott
English 113
03 November 2000
“Weapons for a Battle of Faith?”
“Young Goodman Brown” is a tale of a man’s battle with his faith. It is one of
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most complexing tales. Many unanswered questions arise as you
read it. One of the most obvious questions is if these events are actually happening as
reality, or if they are all a dream. I don’t believe that it really matters. The essay’s events
still have the same impact on Brown’s life whether they took place, or were just a twisted
nightmare. Richard Fogle in his essay “Ambiguity and Clarity in Hawthorne’s ‘Young
Goodman Brown’” also notes the insignificance of the dream! “At any rate the effect on
Goodman Brown is instantaneous and devastating” (210). “Young Goodman Brown” is
an allegory about a man who has lost his faith due to the fact that he has based his faith
on the people of his town, church, and his family.
Hawthorne sets the scene with Brown saying goodbye to his wife, Faith, as he
embarks on his journey through the forest. This is representative of what every man goes
through in his lifetime. We all must decide what we believe in at some point in our lives.
It is human nature, and we have been doing it since the introduction of religion into
society. Once Brown meets his travel companion, who I believe is the devil, he doesn’t
want to continue on. He is recalling on what he was taught by his fellow members of the
community that it is wrong to associate with evil. He has so much faith in them and what
they taught him, that he continues on, forever believing that his faith will overcome the
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devil’s temptations. Brown draws strength from the admiration and reverence that he has
for his family and spiritual teachers. His guide, Satan, begins to place doubt into the heart
and soul of Brown’s spiritual foundation. He speaks of how he has influenced the actions
of his father when he brutally beat a woman through the streets of the town and in his
grandfather’s actions during King Philip’s War. Brown can’t even comprehend these
accusations and openly states his feelings, “We are a people of prayer, and good works to
boot, and abide no such wickedness” (326). The devil convinces Brown to proceed
further down the trail where they come across an older woman. The woman just
happened to be Goody Cloyse, an upstanding teacher and Christian whom Brown had
modeled his faith after since he was a young boy. She willingly converses with the devil
and is perceived to be a witch. This devilish enlightenment was a devastating blow to
Brown’s faith. He begins to question if he is truly a faithful man. He begins to ponder the
question that if his teachings came from evil men and women, then everything he
believes in may be a devilish lie. Richard Fogle plainly states this in his essay as well,
“In the process he progressively undermines the young man’s faith in the institutions and
the men whom he has heretofore revered” (209). Brown still maintains his composure
and pushes onward because of his unscathed faith in the church.
Brown’s faith has taken a huge hit. It has begun to weaken and falter due to his
loss of faith in his father and Goody Cloyse, but he still has high hopes in the strengths of
the church. He doesn’t believe that Satan has corrupted his sacred church. Brown decides
that he wants to end his journey with the devil because he feels that it will make him
appear more Christian. He places much of his faith in the entity of the church. In order to
be faithful, he believed that he needed to attend and follow the leaders of his church.
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Brown thinks that if he stops now he will be able to maintain his reputation within the
church as Good-Man Brown. The devil begins to tear away at the holy illusion that
Brown has created for the prominent leaders of his church. He shows him what the
leaders of his church are really like. The minister and Deacon Gookin are heard
conversing of unholy matters. This is symbolic of the corruption that is often noted
among powerful leaders of religious groups, especially in Hawthorne’s day. Upon
hearing this, Brown begins to question the church and its leaders, “the voices, talking so
strangely in the empty air, passed on through the forest, where no church had ever been
gathered, nor solitary christian prayed. Whither, then, could these holy men be
journeying, so deep into the heathen wilderness?” (328) This new insight into the lives of
his leaders being corrupt also causes Brown to doubt if there is even a heaven, which the
church speaks of, to continue placing his faith in. This is the point in which it is clearly
evident that Brown has lost his faith in the church and its leaders. Satan has effectively
destroyed another piece of the foundation of Brown’s faith. “Goodman Brown . . . is
wrecked as a result of the disappearance of the fixed poles of his belief. His orderly
cosmos dissolves into chaos as church and state, the twin pillars of his society; are hinted
to be rotten, with their foundations undermined” (Fogle 212).
Now that Brown has lost faith in the church and the people that he had held in the
highest religious regard he is clinging on to the last sliver of faith that he has remaining.
This is what I think is truly the cornerstone of his faith. I believe that his strength comes
from his wife, Faith. He repeatedly mentions her to his travel companion that he must end
their journey because he needs to go home to her. Her name alone is symbolic enough. It
is by no mere circumstance that the essay is about a man’s test of his faith and that his
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soul mate’s name is Faith. Young Goodman Brown loved her deeply and felt that he was
impervious to the devil’s temptations when she was in his corner. “Well; she’s a blessed
angel on earth; and after this one night. I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven”
(324). Hawthorne alludes to the way marriage is supposed to be according to Puritan
values. Men and women get married to unite their hearts and souls to become stronger
emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Satan easily breaks even this sacred bond of love,
trust, and faith. The devil shows to Brown that Faith is no different than everyone and
everything else that he has based his faith on. As Brown and Faith are placed at Satan’s
altar, Brown still believes in his wife until she doesn’t look toward Heaven to resist the
devil. This proves to Brown that Faith has also been corrupted by sin. Once this happens,
Brown loses the last shred of faith that he had. He completely breaks down and shuns
everything that was once the basis of his life. In my opinion, this is when the devil
emerged victorious in their battle.
Goodman Brown tried to do what he thought was right based on what he had been
taught and perceived to be faithful. The only problem is that his faith was not based on
the right things. He drew strength from the people of his town, church, and his family,
and his marriage. Unfortunately, all of these things had no true substance that could be
used to resist the devil. In conclusion, I believe that Nathaniel Hawthorne used the story
“Young Goodman Brown” as a representation of a man’s life journey and what can
happen to his faith if it’s not built on God Himself.
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Works Cited
Fogle, Richard. “Ambiguity and Clarity in Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’” A
Casebook on the Hawthorne Question. Ed. Agnes McNeil Donohue. New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1963. 207-221.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown” Literature An Introduction to Reading
and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts Henry E. Jacobs. New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
1998. 324-332.