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Satan’s Manipulation of Young Goodman Brown’s

Faith

By Rachel Kohar

243521

December 3rd 2008

Dr. Dunning

English 103
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The community depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young

Goodman Brown is similar the historical 1692 Salem, Massachusetts; in

both literature and reality, the Puritan church at this time was the crux

of society and governed all aspects of life. Under the church’s

direction, witchcraft was outlawed and anyone found engaging in such

was condemned to death. Questioning the church was attached to

witchcraft and therefore, merited a death sentence as well. This was

the society in which Young Goodman Brown was born and raised. Like

his elders and community leaders, Brown adopted the faithful rituals

and beliefs of his area rather than developing his own through

questioning and life experience. As a result, the foundation of Brown’s

faith consists of the beliefs of his community, the reputation of his

family, and the values of his wife. In the forest, the devil ruins

Goodman Brown’s faith by manipulating his view of his ancestry,

community, and wife. Within the confines of his community bubble,

Brown’s faith is strong; however, when the foundation of his faith is

absent, Brown has nothing to fall back on and his faith crumbles.

One third of the foundation of Young Goodman Brown’s faith,

which the devil destroys, was his belief in the devout nature of his

ancestors. To avoid going any further into the forest, Goodman Brown

claims that his “…father never went into the woods on such an errand,

nor his father before him” (63) and that his family had always “…been
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a race on honest men and good Christians since the days of the

martyrs” (63). The devil’s first tactic is his appearance to Goodman

Brown. As Brown travels into the forest the devil does not appear as a

creature from hell. Instead, he takes the form of a traveler “…in the

same rank of life as Goodman Brown…bearing a considerable

resemblance to him…” (62). This choice of appearance makes the devil

more personable in the eyes of Goodman Brown and aids in gaining

Brown’s attention. When Goodman Brown states that his ancestors had

never participated in such an activity, the devil moves onto his second

strategy-namely, private family history. When Goodman Brown hears

that the devil helped his “…grandfather, the constable, when he lashed

the Quaker woman” (63) and brought his “…father a pitch-pine knot…

to set fire to an Indian village…” (63), his view of their faith is

tarnished. With this portion of his faith broken, Goodman Brown

journeys deeper into the forest without the devil having to make any

physical effort.

The next piece of the foundation that the devil destroys is

Goodman Browns view of his community. Goodman Brown, due to a

lack of personally developed faith, uses the opinion of village elders as

a reason not to advance. He argues that “…were [he] to go on with

[the devil], how [could he] meet the eye of the good old man, [their]

minister…” (64). While Goodman Brown is thinking of more excuses

not to advance forward, the devil laughs and turns his attention to
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what Brown believes to be Goody Cloyse, the elder who “…taught [him

his] catechism” (65). When this figure exposes his identity, the devil

did not argue. Rather, he alludes to her involvement in witchcraft by

conversed with her about the “…nice young man to be taken into

communion…” (65). This encounter is followed up by the devil’s

introduction of Deacon Gookin and the minister. At this point, even

after meeting Goody Cloyse, Goodman Brown considers “how clear a

conscience he [would have] should he meet the minister in his morning

walk” (66). Seeing this, the devil allows Brown to hear what he believes

to be the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin from his hiding

spot beside the road. This revelation moves Goodman Brown forward

as he no longer has the faith of the community to assist him in

rebuking the devil.

At this point, majority of what was Goodman Brown’s faith is

destroyed or tainted in some way; despite this, Brown is not yet at a

point of no return. Though his faith was greatly depleted, he could

have returned to Salem with the little faith he had left-namely, that

supplied through his marriage to faith. Unfortunately, Goodman Brown

fails to turn and leave; instead of acting, Brown voices the faith that he

thinks he has left proclaiming that “with heaven above and Faith

below, [he] will stand firm against the devil” (67). Once again, the devil

has no trouble in manipulating Brown into losing his remainder of faith.

Just as before, the devil shows Goodman Brown the image that
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undermines his profession of his strong faith. This time, Brown sees an

object “flutter lightly through the air” (68) and upon seizing it, “…

beholds a pink ribbon” (68). At this point, Goodman Brown reaches a

point of no return in his walk of faith. The devil had finally exposed all

of the things that he based his faith upon and having no faith of his

own to fall back on, Goodman Brown cries out, acknowledging that his

“…faith is gone!” (68).

In the case of Young Goodman Brown, the devil’s deceitful tactics

were successful. By tainting his views of his ancestry, community, and

wife-all the factors that made up Brown’s faith-the foundation upon

which Brown built his faith crumbled. How sturdy is the house built on

sand when the waves beat upon it? Rather weak. Likewise, Goodman

Brown’s faith was not built on his own learning and experience; it was

built onto what he was brought up to believe. Within his community,

this was not a problem; however, when he was away from Salem

getting tempted by the devil, he failed miserably. This story holds an

important message for new Christians who are learning and sorting out

what they believe. While it is beneficial to look to parents and elders

for an example, it is necessary for everyone to decide upon their own

personal set of values, faith, and morality.

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Work Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown," Trinity Western ENGL

103 Course Pack (2008): 58-70.