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The Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"

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Published: Jan 29, 2024

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Analysis of the protagonist, young goodman brown, exploration of the allegorical elements in the story, examination of the theme of moral ambiguity and sin, evaluation of the role of faith and religion.

• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Ed. Nina Baym. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 385-395.
• Laws, Karen. "The Struggle in 'Young Goodman Brown'." 2010. Humanities-Ebooks. http://www.humanities-ebooks.co.uk/cgi-bin/tbl.cgi?filename=hl02/ch18-21f.html
• McKeithan, Daniel. "Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown': An Interpretation." The Bijdragen. 1952. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/360534?seq=1

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Literature › Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on April 28, 2022

“Young Goodman Brown,” initially appearing in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846) as both a bleak romance and a moral allegory, has maintained its hold on contemporary readers as a tale of initiation, alienation, and evil. Undoubtedly one of Nathaniel Hawthorne ’s most disturbing stories, it opens as a young man of the town, Goodman Brown, bids farewell to his wife, Faith, and sets off on a path toward the dark forest. Brown’s journey to the forest and his exposure to life-shattering encounters and revelations remain the subject of speculation. Although his meeting with the devil is clear, the results remain ambiguous and perplexing. When viewed as a bildungsroman, it is one of the bleakest in American fiction, long or short. Rather than an initiation into manhood, Brown’s is an initiation into evil.

Much of the power of the story derives from the opening scene of missed chances: Faith, introduced in the second sentence and given the first words of dialogue, leans out the window, her pink ribbons fl uttering, and entreats her husband to stay. Brown, however, although he continues to think of returning, is determined to depart on this dark road. Almost instantly, he—and the reader—become enveloped in the darkness and gloom of the forest. The narrator equates the dreariness with both solitude and evil, and the aura of doom pervades the story. Along the way Brown meets a man who looks curiously like Brown’s father and grandfather; that this traveler is the devil is clear from his snakelike stick and evident power to assume different shapes. The traveler reveals his role in helping Brown’s Puritan ancestors commit crimes against Quakers and Indians. Brown protests that his family has traditionally revered the principles of Christianity, but the traveler provides numerous examples of his converts across all of New England, in both small town and state positions, in the fields of politics, religion, and the law. That Brown himself is from Salem suggests Hawthorne’s fascination with the Puritan guilt of his—and our—own forefathers manifested in other short stories such as “Alice Doane’s Appeal,” a tale about the Puritan obsession with witchcraft.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. Getty Images

Next Brown hides in the forest, demonstrating his hypocrisy, as he sees Goody Cloyse, a pious townswoman, walking along the dark trail. She and the traveler openly discuss her witchcraft, and when Brown leaves his hiding place, he marvels at his memory of Goody Cloyse teaching him his catechism when he was a boy. Again Brown thinks of returning home to Faith, but instead he still hides in the forest, recognizing many of the townspeople passing through and hearing that tonight’s forest meeting will be attended by people from Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as Massachusetts. Just as Brown thinks he can resist the devil and emerge from his hiding place, he hears a scream that sounds like Faith’s, and a pink ribbon fl utters to his feet.

From this point on, Brown himself becomes a grotesque figure, throwing himself with wholehearted if somewhat hysterical and despairing eagerness into the center of the darkness illuminated by the blazing fires of the meeting, clearly an image of hell. He recognizes all the most respected folk of the state unabashedly mingling with common thieves, prostitutes, and even criminals. The dreadful harmony of all these voices joined together in devil worship reaches a crescendo as the converts are brought forth: Among them, dimly recognized, are Brown’s father, mother, and wife. The devil assures the assembly that everyone has secretly committed crimes, from those of illicit sex to those of murdering husbands, fathers, and illegitimate babies. Indeed, says the devil, the whole earth is “one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot.” Evil, not good, he asserts, is the nature of humankind.

As do Adam and Eve, Brown and Faith stand on the edge of wickedness: Brown screams to Faith to resist the devil, and with these words the nightmare ends, Brown awakening against a rock. The narrator asks, Was his experience really a dream? Whether or not we believe in the reality of Brown’s experience; the narrator affirms that it clearly foreshadows Brown’s altered life: Henceforward he is a dour and disillusioned man who sees no good and trusts in no one. In just such a way did the Salem witch trials effectively bring about the collapse of Puritanism, yet the story resonates long afterward: We as readers understand that we are the mythical descendants of Young Goodman Brown. Why does Brown ignore Faith’s warnings? Do we interpret the tale as one of infidelity? Of Christian hypocrisy? Of colonial history? If Brown, as an American Adam, looked upon Eden and found it wanting, do we inherit his frightful knowledge? Or can we interpret it as a cautionary tale, one whose lessons can benefit us as we live our modern lives? More than a century and a half later, Hawthorne’s story continues to beguile us with its gloomy aura and subtly ambiguous theme.

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Stories

Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Novels

BIBLIOGRAPHY Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” In Tales and Sketches, edited by Roy Harvey Pearce. New York: Library of America, 1982. Newman, Lea B. V. A Reader’s Guide to the Short Stories of Hawthorne. New York: Macmillan, 1979.

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A Summary and Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Young Goodman Brown’ (1835) is one of the most famous stories by the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Inspired in part by the Salem witch craze of 1692, the story is a powerful exploration of the dark side of human nature. How Hawthorne loads his story with such power is worthy of some closer analysis, but before we get there, you can read ‘Young Goodman Brown’ here .

Let’s begin with a summary of the story’s plot. We have  analysed the story’s symbolism in a separate post .

Plot summary

In the village of Salem one evening, a young man named Goodman Brown bids farewell to his wife, Faith. Faith wants him to stay with her, but Goodman Brown says he needs to travel tonight. When he leaves her, he vows to himself that he will be good after his business is done tonight.

He meets an old men dressed in ‘grave and decent attire’, as he is travelling on the road. This man has a staff in his hand which resembles a snake. Sensing his young companion is weary, the man offers Goodman Brown the staff but Goodman Brown declines. Indeed, he has honoured his promise to meet with the man tonight, but he has misgivings about it, and wants to turn back and go home. He is a good Christian, and his ancestors were good Christians, and he doesn’t want to get involved.

The man with the staff responds by saying that he knew Goodman Brown’s father and grandfather as well as numerous other high-profile Christians in the state, including the governor himself.

Goodman Brown asks how he will be able to look his minister in the face if he goes on with the business they have planned. This amuses the older man, although when Goodman Brown expresses his fears concerning his wife, Faith, the man is more sympathetic, and reassures him that Faith will come to no harm.

As they walk deeper into the woods, Goodman Brown recognises Goody Cloyse, the old woman who taught him religious instruction when he was a child. As she is well-respected back in his village, he doesn’t want her to recognise him and see him with the strange man with the staff, so he tells the older man that he will come off the path until they have passed the woman.

From the trees, Goodman Brown is astonished when the older man, upon reaching Goody Cloyse, taps her on the shoulder with his snake-staff, and she recognises him as ‘the Devil’. It turns out she is actually a witch (she even cackles) and is accompanying the man to their sabbath!

The two of them talk of young Goodman Brown, whom they will be initiating into their ‘communion’ tonight. Goodman Brown watches as the woman takes the man’s staff and promptly vanishes. He then rejoins the man on the path, shocked by what he has witnessed.

They continue on for a while, but then Goodman Brown has second thoughts again, and sits down, determined not to go any further. But the older man tells him he will think better of it. Two riders approach, who are clearly also involved in the ‘deviltry’ of the night, and as Goodman Brown and his companion walk on, they hear a woman lamenting, and then a scream.

A pink ribbon floats through the air to him, such as his wife Faith wore. ‘My Faith is gone!’ Goodman Brown cries.

Realising all hope is lost, he becomes almost possessed by demonic despair and powers on through the forest, laughing wildly. He stumbles into a clearing in the woods, where a black mass or witches’ sabbath appears to be taking place, featuring many people he recognises, including Deacon Gookin.

He then sees a veiled figure, who turns out to be his wife, Faith, who is a member of the sinful community gathered there. Blood is presented in a bowl, preparatory to the ‘baptism’ initiating the new converts. However, Goodman Brown resists, before staggering against a rock.

The next morning, he returns to Salem village, and everyone from the witches’ sabbath is acting as usual: Goody Cloyse is catechising a child, and Deacon Gookin is praying, while Faith welcomes her husband with joy. We are led to doubt whether what he witnessed the night before actually happened.

Was it all a dream? Either way, he becomes a sterner man thereafter, very ‘distrustful’, seeing sin everywhere. He becomes distant from his own wife. The story ends years in the future, with the narrator telling us that when Goodman Brown died, his neighbours ‘carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.’

Herman Melville, the author of Moby-Dick , thought ‘Young Goodman Brown’ was ‘deep as Dante’ in its exploration of the darker side of human nature.

The story is remarkable in its depiction of evil not least because it raises interesting questions about what it means to ‘become’ or ‘know’ evil. Young Goodman Brown actually resists the initiation in the woodland clearing, involving the blood-baptism, but the story suggests that this doesn’t matter: he has still come to recognise evil and has thus been initiated into its ways.

If it’s true that the only two kinds of person who are wholly obsessed with evil are the very bad and the very good (in the sense of being puritanical about making sure everyone else is as ‘good’ as they are), then ‘Young Goodman Brown’ is as much a cautionary tale about being lured over to the ‘dark side’, because even if you don’t end up embracing it, it will already have embraced you. The Puritan is as possessed by ‘evil’ as the devil-worshipper they condemn; they’re just possessed in different ways.

In other words, Goodman Brown is clearly drawn to the world of sin and witchcraft, as his meeting with the older man with the snake-staff (the ‘serpent’ summoning the satanic snake from the Garden of Eden, of course, which tempted Eve) indicates. Once he has made the decision to go down to the woods tonight he was always going to be in for a big surprise.

The twist, of course, is that in leaving Faith (his wife) behind, he finds Faith again, in the woodland black sabbath, where she is at first veiled and then revealed to him. (Calling her ‘Faith’, by the way, is an inspired touch by Hawthorne; it was a popular woman’s name among Puritans, but it resonates with obviously symbolic significance in this story about faith and sin.)

‘Young Goodman Brown’, then, is a highly symbolic and suggestive story about the nature of evil and also the nature of puritanism: once the veil has been lifted, Young Goodman Brown sees evil everywhere, even where it may well not actually exist.

This last part is important: although Hawthorne leaves some room for ambiguity, and the narrator himself seems uncertain, if Goodman Brown did merely dream the events of the witches’ sabbath, that raises further questions. He already suspects those in authority around him, those who teach religion to the village children or who dutifully pray, of secretly harbouring evil desires and performing dark deeds. His dream was merely an enacting of these (paranoid) suspicions.

But his conviction that the dream was real, and that his wife, his minister, Goody Cloyse, and the others are all secretly marked by evil, suggests that extreme puritanism destroys one’s moral compass and leads to a life devoid of pleasure or meaning.

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2 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘Young Goodman Brown’”

The symbolism in this story is as subtle as a ton of rocks. This is not one of my favorite Hawthorne stories.

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Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

By nathaniel hawthorne, young goodman brown and other hawthorne short stories essay questions.

In "Young Goodman Brown," was Brown's experience of the witch gathering only a figment of his imagination, a dream, or reality? Support your answer with passages from the text.

Many passages in the story make the event seem dream-like. For example, the devil's staff appears to take the shape of a snake, Faith's ribbons magically appear in the middle of the forest, and after shouting at Faith to "resist the evil one" Brown suddenly finds himself transported back into the middle of the forest, as if awakening from a nightmare. At the same time, the events of the night affect Brown for the rest of his life, indicating that it had a severe impact on him and implying that at least he believed it was real. It can also be argued that Brown imagined the scene due to his own guilty conscience and that the witch gathering is only an expression of the sin within himself.

How do you think Brown would have turned out if he had stayed at home that evening? Do you think he would be a happier individual, or just a more naive one?

Clearly Goodman Brown lived a happier life before entering the forest. He trusted his friends and his wife, Faith, immensely. Yet, he kept secrets from them, and decided to venture into the forest even after Faith asked him to stay. His journey into the forest enlightens him to the sin and hypocrisy within all individuals. Though he emerged from the forest a dark and joyless man, he gained significant knowledge of the complex nature of mankind, demonstrating a crucial tradeoff.

In "The Birthmark," what does the removal of the birthmark signify? Why does Aylmer insist on eradicating the mark?

Aylmer is a man of science who has invested his entire life into attaining higher knowledge and exceeding the bounds of nature. Though his wife Georgiana is remarkably beautiful, Aylmer sees the mark on her cheek as a sign of earthly imperfection and a symbol of her capacity for both sin and death. Other lovers believe the birthmark is delightful and mysterious, but to Aylmer's critical eye, it is horrendous. He cannot bear to look at her without cringing, and he is driven to remove it just as he is driven to proceed with many of his past experiments - most of which end in failure.

In "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," the narrator is deliberately unclear about whether the effects of the liquid are real or imagined. Present your argument with supporting evidence from the text.

Hawthorne's use of description and diction indicate that perhaps the four old friends only imagined that they had been restored to youth. The mirror, for example, shows the hilarious scene of four old men and one woman dancing about as the characters, drunk on youth, carouse in the study. In another example, the effects of warmth and good humor of returning youth are associated with the properties of alcohol. On the other hand, many descriptions also seem to indicate that a transformation really takes place; each of the Doctor's guests see youth in one another. It is unclear whether it matters if the event was real or imagined; in either case, the subjects of the Doctor's study demonstrate that if given the chance to be young again, they would commit the same follies as before. Old or young, the characters' flawed natures are revealed and remain unchanged.

Examine the character of Baglioni in "Rappaccini's Daughter." Do you think he is a hypocrite? Does he triumph over his rival, Rappaccini, in the end? Or, does he only undermine his own position?

Baglioni claims to care for humanity in a way that Rappaccini does not. He asserts that Rappaccini has created poisons that have only brought harm to the world, and believes that Rappaccini's daughter, Beatrice, is a prime example of the Doctor's interest in science over humankind. In the end, however, Baglioni is the one who plants evil thoughts in Giovanni's mind, and uses him to deliver the antidote that eventually kills Beatrice. It is unclear whether Giovanni acts out of a believed "duty" toward humankind or a sinister plot to get even with a long-time rival. As a rival, he succeeds in hurting Rappaccini in the deepest way - by taking away his only beloved daughter. But, as a purported supporter of human life, he achieves the opposite of his moral aim with her death.

In "The Minister's Black Veil," how does Mr. Hooper treat the people in his congregation after he dons the veil, and what is the significance of his actions toward them?

Mr. Hooper's actions toward his congregation do not change; he is the same caring and considerate minister he was before he donned the veil. Rather, it is the people who grow uncomfortable with the sight of the veil, and change their reactions to Mr. Hooper. Because Mr. Hooper remains so pure and respectable from the outside, it is clear that the only reason for his congregation's change in attitude is his the veil itself. Their reactions are caused by a mere material object, demonstrating their own shallow and sinful natures.

In "Ethan Brand," what does Brand believe is the Unpardonable Sin? Is he saved from his sin in the end?

According to Brand, the Unpardonable Sin "is a sin that grew within my own breast . . .a sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty claims! The only sin that deserves a recompense of immortal agony!" During his quest for higher knowledge, he manipulated others to commit sins, thereby severing his relationship with humankind and with God.

For a sin to be unpardonable, the sinner must be unrepentant. It is unclear whether Brand indeed repents at the end of his life. He says, "Freely, were it to do again, would I incur the guilt." But, it is possible that Brand's sin was not truly unpardonable - instead, it was only his concept of what was unpardonable. It could have been little more than a show. Before his death, Brand cries, "O mankind, whose brotherhood I have cast off, and trampled thy great heart beneath my feet!" Perhaps this acknowledgement of his sin and lamentation over it purified his soul. The scenery in the mountain the next morning aligns with this theme of redemption, as the clouds seemed "almost as if a mortal man might thus ascend into the heavenly regions." Furthermore, the kiln's interior is bright white; Brand's heart rests inside his skeleton in the form of pure lime. This may indicate that a possible purging of sin occurred.

In the "Maypole of Merry Mount," which group do you believe is more "good" or "evil" - the Puritans or the Merrymakers?

Arguments could be made for both sides. Throughout most of the story, the Puritans are painted as cold, grim, and dark figures, who stage an attack on the Merrymakers without provocation. Their punishments for the Merrymakers seem harsh and barbarous, quite at odds with the religious faith they presume to uphold. Their treatment of the Lord and Lady of the May could be seen as compassion, but could also simply be seen as imposing Puritan values onto innocent and impressionable youth.

On the other hand, the Merrymakers may be strange and silly fellows, but are largely harmless. They do not try to physically confront the Puritans, nor is any description given indicating that they fight back when attacked. Though they may not necessarily be "evil," the story does hint that their mirth is not real, but rather a fabrication, and for this lack of true emotion, they are worse off than the Puritans.

In "Roger Malvin's Burial," what is the significance of Cyrus's death?

When Reuben accidentally shoots his own son while hunting, at the exact spot where Roger Malvin died, Reuben's debt is paid. Cyrus is a grand price to pay, as he is Reuben's only son, and is dearly cherished. Cyrus reminds Reuben of his younger self, before he was destroyed by guilt. Cyrus's death served to expiate Reuben's sin; his curse was gone, but at a very high price. Cyrus's death ends the cycle of sin.

In "My Kinsman, Major Molineux," why does Robin laugh at his relative when he sees the poor Major tarred and feathered?

Robin's laughter seems to be spontaneous, as he is swept up in the tumult of the crowd. However, on closer inspection, the narrator tells us that Robin is a shrewd youth, and he realizes, after the treatment he has endured the whole night, that if he does not laugh, he may face the same fate as his relative. Contrary to his original belief, his kinsman is not a honored figure but rather a humiliated public official. His actions, however, show that he cares more for survival than for loyalty to his family member. His companion sees his laughter as a severing of ties and also as an act of independence, and therefore suggests that Robin stay behind and survive without the help of his kinsman.

What do you think happens at the end of "Wakefield". Is Mr. Wakefield's reunion with his wife a happy one?"

Hawthorne's inspiration for this story comes from a real-life event he recalls reading in a newspaper. The man on whom Mr. Wakefield is based, like his character, returns home following a mysterious 20 year absence. Supposedly, the real man lived the rest of his years as a loving husband. In examining the man's motivations through Mr. Wakefield, Hawthorne is more ambiguous as to his character's fate. He imagines a rainy scene and supposes that the decision to reenter his home - and his life - was surely not premeditated. It is Wakefield's longing for his wife, the warmth of his home and the habits of his old life that causes him to cross the threshold. Mrs. Wakefield failed to recognize her husband 10 years earlier; in their advanced age, it is unclear whether or not she would believe this man - now a stranger to her - is her presumed-dead husband. Both a happy and an unhappy reunion are possible. Hawthorne hints that the "consequences" of Wakefield's actions are unavoidable, so he may be cast aside by his jilted wife. But Hawthorne paints Wakefield's longing so vividly, it is entirely possible that his wife's thrill over her husband being alive may erase her years of sorrow.

Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

In which page and excerpts of Natherniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown portrays the features of a gothic literature?

Foreboding Setting:

He had taken a dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest, which barely stood aside to let the narrow path creep through, and closed immediately behind. It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this...

Sights from a Steeple

A watchman watches from a steeple what's going on in the world. This would be Victorian era.

To what extent is Hawthorne's use of dreams crucial in "Young Goodman Brown" and in "The Birthmark"? Explain how Hawthorne uses dreams as a means to complicate our view of his characters.

Many of Hawthorne's short stories blur the lines between the supernatural and reality, as the characters often experience dream-like events.

One example of this blurred distinction occurs in "Young Goodman Brown" . It is unclear whether the witch...

Study Guide for Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories study guide contains a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of Hawthorne's short stories.

• About Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories
• Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories Summary
• Character List

Essays for Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

Hawthorne's Short Stories essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Hawthorne's Short Stories.

• Twice-Tilled Tracts: Revisions of the Garden of Eden in Hawthorne's Short Stories
• The Importance of Whiteness and Race in Hawthorne's The Birth-Mark
• Fundamental Themes in Roger Malvin's Burial
• Penetrating the Mind of Young Goodman Brown
• The "Men of the Crowd"

Lesson Plan for Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories Bibliography

E-Text of Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

Hawthorne's Short Stories e-text contains the full text of Hawthorne's short stories including Young Goodman Brown.

• THE GRAY CHAMPION
• SUNDAY AT HOME
• THE WEDDING-KNELL
• THE MINISTER'S BLACK VEIL
• THE MAYPOLE OF MERRY MOUNT

Wikipedia Entries for Young Goodman Brown and Other Hawthorne Short Stories

• Introduction