Faith

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