Essay on the Evil in Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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The Evil in Young Goodman Brown

In my interpretation of the story, I will be discussing three main topics: the beginning conversation with Faith, the devilish character, and Brown’s wife’s meaning in the story. Young Goodman Brown is about to take a journey like many others before him, across the threshold separating the young unknowing boys and the elderly sages. This, however, will not be without peril, because aging is a testing process defined by trial and error, and the errors’ prices are sometimes significant.

This errand he is undertaking has an evil purpose. It seems as though this night has been foreseen long ago by both Faith and Goodman Brown. The wife begs him that, of all nights, he should stay this one home because she senses trouble. The purpose of the journey is not discussed, because it is the passage b...

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...; The last paragraph of the story indicates that this was not just a journey to mature, because he died like a heathen, away from the religious community. He strayed his faith and he was punished for this. Gloom is a big part of this story, symbolizing the forest, unknown, and evil. The fact that every person in Salem, sinful or pious, was present in the forest can reflect some humor. They act as zombies by night, and normal people by day, pretending one faith in the gloom, and returning to church at dawn.

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