When I was first reading Young Goodman Brown and I read the description of the Man I knew he was evil. He had a serpent shaped staff, Jafar has a serpent shaped staff and he was evil. Snakes are the epitome of evil. In the bible a snake convince Eve to eat the apple and is part of the reason why she and Adam are expelled from the Garden of Eden. 

 When I first read the story I assumed that this man would be Young Goodman Browns undoing just like the snake was Adam and Eve's undoing and I was partially right. Just like in Adam and Eve the snake was the instigator but Adam, Eve and Goodman Brown are not without fault. There bonds to their Faith were weak and all it need to break was a small tug.

When Young Goodman Brown see his Faith a symbol of Faith and Goodness in the story he immediately accepts evil and sin. Had his Faith been strong he would have resisted like he had after he discovered that his father, grandfather, Goody Cloyse, the Minister and Deacon Gookin had been corrupted.

After I finished reading the story I still felt that the snake/ Man had led to Goodman Brown's undoing but mostly I felt that he was the cause of his own undoing. He took that path that night to meet the snake/Man when he could have stayed home with his Faith and prayed. He had countless opportunities to turn back but he didn't and ultimately he led to his own downfall.

I found that the most interesting character in the short story, The Young Goodman Brown, was Faith. In the beginning of the story, she is portrayed a loving wife who does not want to be separated from her new husband. According to her physical description, she is a young, innocent looking girl with pink ribbons in her hair that represent her purity or her faith. Goodman and Faith have a seemingly strong and open relationship. When Goodman set out on his “journey” with the mysterious man who ends up being the Devil, he does not know what to expect. All he seems to be sure of is that nothing will change his faith in God. At first, Goodman is not phased by what the Devil is telling him. He is taken aback somewhat when he figures out that The woman who was his teacher and the deacon of his church are followers of the Devil, but he remains faithful to God. The most pivotal moment in his “journey” comes when he finds Faith’s pink hair ribbon on the trail to the Devil’s worship ceremony. Goodman begins to question everything when he sees that his own wife has abandoned everything that he assumed she stood firm in. The biggest paradox in the story being Faith’s name creates a huge internal conflict with Goodman. Everything he has been brought up to believe is a lie. Goodman never really comes to terms with the truth that everyone he knows is a hypocrite. We never figure out if he remains a faithful follower of God or if he conforms to the rest of society    

As the story develops it becomes clear that Goodman Browns wife Faith is actually a personified symbol to his own spiritual faith. 

  "My Faith is gone!" cried he, after one stupefied moment "
 
"With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!" cried Goodman Brown 

  "Faith!" shouted Goodman Brown, in a voice of agony and desperation "


Do you believe that the two are one? Comment if you have any other suggestions about whether Faith in the story is personified or not.

"The devil!" screamed the pious old lady...So saying, he threw it down at her feet, where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian magi. Of this fact, however, Goodman Brown could not take cognizance. He had cast up his eyes in astonishment, and, looking down again, beheld neither Goody Cloyse nor the serpentine staff, but his fellow-traveller alone, who waited for him as calmly as if nothing had happened."


What are your feelings about this confrontation between Goody Cloyse and Goodman Brown? Did you know that Goody Cloyse was actually a witch herself? Discuss the matter among your fellow peers to get another insight about this meeting.

After the revelation in the woods whether real or imaginary, Goodman Brown became very suspicious of the ongoing abtivities of the village and its occupants.

"When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof
should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers. "

Do you think Goodman Brown's suspicion of the community is justified? Will Goodman's faith in his fellow residents ever be restored?

What does this picture represent, to you, in the novel?