Sin In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, “Young Goodman Brown,” shows that sin is universal in nature. He exposes that every single person, no matter how pious or how evil they may appear on the outside all have committed sinful acts. For example, Brown sees his own deacon and reverend engaged in a discussion in which the deacon, states that the group of people that they are to meet up with “know almost as much devilry as the best of us” (29). This statement by the deacon shows not only an admittance that the supposedly pious clergy commit evil acts, but also that they are familiar enough with sin that they are considered masters of devilry. He shows that even leaders of the spiritual community, those whom citizens are supposed to look towards for moral …show more content…

The narrator, a “Goodman,” like his name suggests, attempts to resist the pull of sin. As sin tempts to bring the narrator deeper into the forest, Goodman Brown with all his willpower manages to resist sin. The only reason that Brown gives into sin is because he sees others being drawn into sin, and he allows himself to be influenced by this observation. His decision to finally arrive at the gathering where all others were joined in rejoicing in their sin was due to his wife. Hawthorne uses Faith’s fall into sin to show that loved ones, especially spouses, have such a great power and importance in human lives that this love is placed above the avoidance of sin. After seeing all the saint like people in his life traversing to a place where sin is celebrated, Brown begins “doubting whether there really was a heaven above him” (29). Brown sees others sinning and this weakens his own resolve to not sin because he begins to question every belief that he has after seeing so many of his friends abandon their beliefs. Hawthorne tries to show through this that people who surround themselves with sin rather than faith are more likely to lose their faith and commit more sins. However, the final straw that pushes Brown into fully accepting sin is when he sees his wife, the person he cares most about in the world turn to sin. Once Brown sees that his wife has turned to sin, he claims that “[t]here is no good