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Spencer Colton
Anne Meyer
ENGL 1110-100
1 December 2016

Like any other story, Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne can easily be
passed over as another tale to be taken at face value, and nothing else. However, reading deeper
into some of the incredibly symbolic events that transpire over the course of Goodman Browns
journey reveals potential insights and hints as to the most fundamental tendencies of mankind as
a whole. Through a mesh of characters, symbols, and dialogue, Hawthorne attempts to convey
through the story of Young Goodman Brown that all humans, whether or not others can see it,
are unified by sin. Even the people who seem and act the most pious and holy are tainted by sin,
according to Hawthornes model of the world.
Many of the characters in Hawthornes novel can serve to represent the greater segments
of the population to which they belong. Goodman Browns wife, Faith, is the first character to
whom the reader is introduced after Brown himself. Through her first and only conversation with
Brown in the whole story, she is portrayed as an affectionate wife. Furthermore, her pink ribbons,
which are mentioned several times before the end of the tale, are representative of a childlike
innocence and navet which are associated with a state of being that is more pure and free of
sin. By characterizing Faith in this way, Hawthorne introduces the first group of people to be
dealt with laterthose who appear pure.

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Shortly thereafter, once Goodman Brown has begun his journey into the forest, he
encounters a man known only as the traveller. This traveller is described as bearing a
considerable resemblance to [Goodman Brown] (Hawthorne). Furthermore, the text states that
both were wearing rather modest clothing and both appeared to be middle-aged. Therefore, both
Goodman Brown and the traveller are representative of the everyman. Their features, dress,
and personality are bland enough that either one of them could be molded to roughly match any
other person. It is in this way that Hawthorne constructs the next group of people that will later
be analyzedthe average Joes.
Goodman Brown then encounters someone he had known very well in his childhood: his
catechism teacher, Goody Cloyse. Hawthorne remarks that Goody Cloyse was a very pious and
exemplary dameand was still [Goodman Browns] moral and spiritual adviser. When Brown
is shocked to see a woman of her stature so deep in the woods at night, the traveller urges him to
hide off the path so that Goody Cloyse will not see him. Once he is hiding, it is revealed that the
man with whom Goodman Brown has been traveling is, indeed, the devil, and Goody Cloyse
knows him well. Not only that, but she is planning on attending an unnamed meeting with the
devil later that night. This comes as quite a shock to the reader because of Goody Cloyses pious
stature as a catechism teacher. Most would naturally assume that religious figures such as Cloyse
are free of sin and are on a higher spiritual plane than the average person, but Hawthorne shows
that this is not the case.
Similarly, after walking a bit further, Goodman Brown believes that he hears the voices of
Deacon Gookin and the minister on a path near him in the woods. Both of them are religious
figureheads who he respects and admires greatly. Though he never actually sees them, the
conversation that he overhears between the two of them strongly indicates that they are also

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involved in deviltry, and they will also be at the same meeting mentioned before by Goody
Cloyse and the traveller. As such, the reader now has more evidence pointing to people who
seem pious during the day, but whose consciences are weighted by sin at night, regardless of any
appearance to the contrary.
Were it questioned that Goodman Browns resemblance to the man who embodies the
devil inherently means that Brown is evil, Hawthorne makes a point of unequivocally depicting
Goodman Brown as exhibiting many of the qualities associated with sin. Though he had had
myriad opportunities to turn back and return to Faith, Brown chose to continue on his journey
with the traveller. It is strongly implied through the conversations that Brown has that he is
aware that the traveller is the human manifestation of the devil. Therefore, he is voluntarily and
knowingly embarking on a journey of sin, one of the culminations of which is a scene in which
there is nothing more frightful than the figure of Goodman Brown. On he flew, among the black
pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid
blasphemy (Hawthorne). Thus, it is shown that the everyman, represented by Young
Goodman Brown, is tainted by sin.
At the climax of the entire tale, Brown finds himself around a giant satanic ritual deep
within the forest. This is where the reader finally finds the last group of people who participate in
sinful activities. The audience already expected Goody Cloyse, Deacon Gookin, and the minister
to be at this meeting, but what is shocking is that Faith and men of dissolute lives and women of
spotted fame arrived as well. These people, the untouchables, are also guilty of sin.
Through Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that all humans,
regardless of social stature, are guilty of and connected by sin. From the most innocent, as

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evidenced by Faith, to the church elders Deacon Gookin and the minister, to average men such as
Goodman Brown himself. All humanity is joined together by sin.