Faith In Young Goodman Brown

In “Young Goodman Brown” short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Goodman Brown and changes his attitude from loving to distasteful towards his wife Faith. The story begins with Goodman Brown saying goodbye to his wife, Faith, before leaving for a journey into the unknown in the dark forest. His wife advises him to wait until the morning, but Goodman Brown is certain that he needs to run this errand before the sunrise. The goodbye conversation is warm, intimate, and loving with mutual exchange of carrying words when Faith says: “’Dearest heart,’ whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, ‘pr 'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams

He describes her as “blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I 'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven" (2). Goodman Brown sees Faith as an inspiration and thinks that he could not go to Heaven without following her; Faith is Goodman Brown’s fuel to live. The warm setting shifts once Goodman Brown enters the forest, lonely, distancing further and further away from his Faith until he meets this “figure of a man” (3) who questions goodness and persuades Goodman Brown to see evil. The man convinces Goodman Brown to trust him by deceptively talking of the evil side of people that Goodman Brown believed and trusted including father, grandfather, and church leaders. The young and innocent Goodman Brown is gullible enough to believe and trust in everything the man is telling, and perhaps showing him. Whenever Goodman Brown’s experiences are real or a dream is an unanswered question, but each situation is real enough to modify Goodman Brown’s perspective. Yet, after seeing evil in everyone, the most important person in Goodman Brown’s life remains unaffected by his change, and Goodman Brown cries: “With Heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (7). For Goodman Brown, Faith is precious, the angel on earth, and he stands against the evil with Heaven and Faith as his strength. Further, Goodman Brown discovers that even Faith is corruptible and he expresses a profound disappointment when he says: “’My Faith is gone!’ cried he after one stupefied moment. ‘There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given’” (8). Goodman Brown infers that no one can escape the darkness, evil, and sin—not even his