In Nathan Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown" the main character faces situations and battles where he is then left to struggle with the outward existence which conforms and the inward life which questions. Deciding which path you take defines your character and yourself as a person and that's why this may be very difficult to many individuals. Just like the novel "Brave New World" Young Goodman Brown has an inward battle with himself about sacrificing individuality in pursuit of social acceptance. Hawthorne throughout this story focuses on the theme surrounding what he sees as the corruptibility that results from Puritan society’s emphasis on public morality, which often weakens private religious faith.Young Goodman Brown is forced to question whether or not the forces surrounding him are good or evil and at the same time abandon his own personal faith and morals.
Goodman Brown’s religious beliefs are rooted in his belief that those around him are also religious. Although Goodman Brown has decided to come into the forest and meet with the devil, he still hides when he sees Goody Cloyse and hears the minister and Deacon Gookin. He seems more concerned with how his faith appears to other people than with the fact that he has decided to meet with the devil.Young Goodman Brown is portrayed by Hawthorne as a flat, static character. Because the reader does not visualize or comprehend any shifts in the behaviors or qualities of Goodman, one can state that Goodman is a stable character who struggles internally. He fights his inward questioning on a kind of faith, which depends so much on other people’s views, is easily weakened. When Goodman Brown discovers that his father, grandfather, Goody Cloyse, the minister, Deacon Gookin, and Faith are all in league with the devil, Goodman Brown quickly decides that he might as well do the same. Hawthorne seems to suggest that the danger of basing a society on moral principles and religious faith lies in the fact that members of the society do not arrive at their own moral decisions.
Goodman Brown loses his innocence because of his inherent corruptibility, which suggests that whether the events in the forest were a dream or reality, the loss of his innocence was unavoidable. Instead of being corrupted by some outside force, Goodman Brown makes a personal choice to go into the forest and meet with the devil; the choice was the true danger, and the devil only facilitates on Goodman Brown’s fall. Due to Young Goodman pursuing the journey, he collapsed to the evil and darkness of sin. His inward questioning resulted in a complete transformation and gravitational pull to the evil sins possessed by the Devil himself. Young Goodman Brown did indeed fact struggle with the outward conformity with inward questioning. Brown abandoned his personal faith and morals to follow an even deeper spirit. This resulted in the Devil concluding he may have had his resting faith and light of heaven reaching out to him, Goodman faithless life that will forever be corrupted by sin.
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