Young Goodman Brown
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Summary
 A young puritan man reluctantly left his loving wife to meet with a very suspicious
unnamed man in the forest around his home town. After meeting this curiously dark
individual, they talk about how Goodman’s ancestors were friends with the cloaked man.
The dark man is trying to convince Goodman to follow him like so many other people,
including very powerful holy men, have chosen to do. Hawthorne nearly stated that the
man that Goodman is talking to is the devil himself. Goodman however is not
convinced that he should follow the mysterious man. An old woman that had taught
Goodman about the church talks of witchcraft with the devil while Goodman hides in
the bushes. Goodman is still unconvinced that following the old man is a good idea.
However as he waits by the path as he was told to do, his pastor comes and makes known
that he is in the devil’s ring of friends. Mr. Brown is wavering but does not give in
because of his wife. That is until he hears a crowd of people chanting before hearing his
wife’s screams. He then is forced into a temporarily insanity and runs into a group of
people from his town in a ring singing an evil song. Goodman’s pastor then brings him
out to the middle along with his wife. They are forced to accept the evil of the world.
Goodman then screams at his wife to stay true to the lord and finds himself in the
middle of the forest. He doubts whether this actually happened and is forever distrustful
and hateful of everyone. The End.
Discussion questions
 1. Could this story be all a dream?
 2. Who can we infer the man that Goodman Brown walking with is?
Satan?
 3. What was significant about the wide variety of people portrayed to be
demonic?
 4. What is the significance about the wife’s name?
Comparison 1

Hawthorne’s life vs. work
 Hawthorne’s guilt of ancestors’ judgment of the Salem trails shows through his work.
 There’s a constant reference to the Salem trials.
 The stories show the harshness of Puritan times.

Goodman Brown vs. other stories
 There were similar settings.
 All stories took place in Puritan times.
 Goodman Brown and The Scarlet Letter took place in Salem
 There were similar conflicts within the stories.
 The main character in the stories had to confront sin in some way.
 Some characters hid beneath their sin and were secluded from life, or they
were (in the case of Goodman Brown) trying to be converted to being
controlled by their sin by Satan.
Comparison 2: In connection to real life
o The major overall relation Yong Goldman Brown has to our daily lives is that not
everyone is perfect. Going into the story when Goldman meets all the people he knows
including his wife at the meeting with the devil, he understands that even though they
were good people, anyone can be tempted to do bad.
o When it comes to popular trends , the famous group “illuminati” can be seen as an
example of that meeting in the forest because celebrities meet with the devil and discuss
about their careers.
o We tend to do what the people close to us are doing. Goodman finally gave in and went to
the meeting after knowing that his wife was attending it as well. Not knowing that, he
would have resisted the temptation and still walked with the Lord.
o Basically in life, we go through certain situations for a reason. Even though he never knew
what had happened that night whether or not he was dreaming, but in the end he learned
something from that experience. We shouldn’t take things for granted and accept that we
can’t be perfect but try to do things perfectly.
Illustration
In the dark forest, there was a
huge fire that was surrounded
by four blazing pines. People
were gathered by the fire.
A yellow smile picture
represents the people who
Goodman thought they were
good like the lady of governor,
fair young girls, and church
members.
An angry orange picture
represents the people who
Goodman thought they were
bad like suspects of horrid
crimes.
Young Goodman Brown Passages
Paragraph 13, 14:
But the only thing about him
that could be fixed upon as
remarkable was his staff, which
bore the likeness of a great black
snake, so curiously wrought that
it might almost be seen to twist
and wriggle itself like a living
serpent. This, of course, must
have been an ocular deception,
assisted by the uncertain light.
“Come, Goodman Brown,” cried
his fellow-traveler, “this is a dull
pace for the beginning of a
journey. Take my staff, if you are
so soon weary.”
After finishing the story, the reader might
realize that this is important to the plot for
several reasons:

The man, who is revealed to be the devil
at the end of the story, carries staff which
looks like a snake. The snake is a symbol
commonly associated with the devil, or
with trickery and deception, and it is
stated that the way the staff imitates a
snake is just a trick of light.

When the man offers Goodman Brown
his staff, he is, in a very subtle way, trying
to tempt the Goodman, as Satan is
constantly trying to tempt humanity. In
the bible, specifically the book of Job,
Satan is allowed to tempt Job away from
God by torturing him and taking away
everything he has, short of actually killing
him. In the book of Matthew, chapter
four, Satan tries to tempt Jesus after he
has been fasting in the wilderness for
forty days and forty nights.
New Vocabulary
 Tarry- noun- to remain or stay, as in a place. Paragraph 3, sentence 1.
 Melancholy- noun- a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged;
depression. Paragraph 6, sentence 1.
 Smote- verb- a simple past tense of smite (to strike or hit hard, with or as with the
hand, a stick, or other weapon.) Paragraph 7, sentence 1.
 Lurid- adjective- gruesome, horrible, revolting Paragraph 55 sentence 4.
 Pulpit- noun- a platform or raised structure in a church, from which the sermon is
delivered or the service is conducted. Paragraph 57, sentence 2.
New Vocabulary
 Benignantly- adjective- kind, especially to inferiors, gracious. Paragraph 59,
sentence 2.
 Catechism- noun- an elementary book containing a summary of the principles of
the Christian religion, especially as maintained by a particular church, in the form of
questions and answers. Paragraph 63, sentence 4.
 Virtue- noun- moral excellence, goodness, righteousness. Paragraph 68, sentence 2.
 Anathema- noun- a person or thing detested or loathed. Paragraph 73, sentence 3.
 Hemmed- noun- to fold back and sew down the edge of cloth or a garment, form
of edge on or around. Paragraph 57, sentence 2.