Young Goodman Brown: The Journey Into the Puritan Heart:
Three Works Cited In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne depicts a 17th century Puritan attempting to reach justification as Brown's faith required. Upon completing his journey, however, Brown could not confront the terrors of evil in his heart and chose to reject all of society. Puritan justification was a topic Hawthorne was aware of as an internalized journey to hell necessary for a moral man. Works such as John Winthrop's The History of New England and Neal's The History of the Puritans described justification as a psychological journey into evil, the hell of the self. Having referred to the heart of man as hell, Puritans found themselves in the midst of Satan and his multitude of devils as he established his kingdom in man's heart. "It was an interior landscape more bleak and far more treacherous than the external one in which the New World Puritan found himself" (Johnson 11). This was a dreadful revelation that caused Brown to grow bitter and distrustful, just as it did with 17th Century Puritans.
Puritan communities, secured by their orthodox faith, dealt with the ungodly wilderness around them. Set in Salem during the early witchcraft day of 1692, Young Goodman Brown's experience in the dark, evil forest correlated and would have been recognized by Puritans as a symbol of mistrust of their own corrupt hearts and faculties (137). The forest, dark and evil, represented the deceit and darkness of man's heart. Just as Brown could not trust the shadows and figures he saw hidden in the forest, he could not trust his own desires. Those desires had to be purged through his journey into the forest, which became a Journey towards Justification. That corrupt heart was torn open after Brown heard Faith's voice and seeing her pink ribbon screamed: "My Faith is gone . . . . There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come Devil; for to thee is this world given." Such a revelation made Brown "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man." This revelation is often the result of a Puritan confronting his repressed evil. According to the Journey towards Justification, this confrontation should teach him to let go of his wordly dependence and strive for a life without sin.
Hawthorne often called the Puritan life of his ancestors "stern." He was aware of the constant tension and battle between the flesh and the spirit in the lives of the 17th Century Puritans. The purpose of their faith was to provide a divine victory in the after-life from that battle. Boredom, vice and need (desire), the three evils, were kept at bay, under the forceful hand of religion. However, such a battle often led to an inner despair. They were constantly tormented because of the possible convictions and judgements of their peers. This battle intrigued Hawthorne and he sought out its presence in Puritan literature. Works such as Cotton Mather's Magnalia fascinated Hawthorne. It held "the morbid intensity with which he projected distinctive features of the Puritan imagination of reality." Mather believed there were evil spirits in the world: "these unlovely demons were everywhere, in the sunshine as well as in the darkness, and that they were hidden in men's hearts and stole into their most secret thoughts" (Abel 133). Those evil spirits tortured the Puritan, constantly reminding him of his sin and the battle in his own heart. Hawthorne used the presence of these demon in "Young Goodman Brown" by demonstrating, through Brown, the Puritan Journey towards Justification.
The descent of this Journey towards Justification was marked by the disappearance of the self. In place of the self, was the awareness of depravity, helplessness and the illusions of sin. This awareness would then assist the moral man to no longer depend upon material things or people, but to put his faith solely upon God. Intending to be a positive outcome of Justification, Brown found the awareness of his depravity and instead of feeling the enlightenment of his vision, he was blinded by the reality of sin and sentenced himself to a life of miserable isolation.
Hawthorne used "Young Goodman Brown" to create an awareness similar to that of the Journey of Justification. Hawthorne intended for the reader to become aware of the depravity accompanied by sin. He intended for the reader to view the reality of sin and the terror of the human hell that was revealed to Brown. However, Hawthorne also intended for his reader to take that awareness and use it to better deal with life. Isolation from society and complete rejection of all who have sinned could only lead to a miserable and desperate end. "Hawthorne poses the dangerous question of the relations of Good and Evil in man but withholds his answer. Nor does he permit himself to determine whether the events . . . are real" (Fogle 16). That way the complete interpretation of "Young Goodman Brown" is left up to the reader, according to his/her own life, mind, forms of Justification, beliefs, fears and of course, hell.
Works Cited
Abel, Darrel. The Moral Picturesque: Studies in Hawthorne's Fiction. Indiana: Purdue UP, 1988.
Fogle, Richard Harter. Hawthorne's Fiction: The Light and The Dark. Noman: U of Oklahoma P, 1970.
Johnson, Claudia D. The Productive Tension of Hawthorne's Art. University, AL: U of Alabama P, 1981.
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