“YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN”

By “Nathaniel Hawthorne”

Submitted by:NS_Abdul Rehman

Reg No:00000295583
Submitted to:Ma’am Rukaiza Khan
Syndicate: “C”.
 TITLE SIGNIFICIANCE:
The word, "Goodman," demonstrates that he the
protagonist is well-respected in the community and
that he is a good person. The word, "Young," is also
symbolic of his youth and innocence, The word
Brown shows he is neither way up at the top of the
society and also not trapped in the bottom.
 Plot Summary:
Through the Agreement Goodman has made
with the Devil, he has agreed to leave his wife,
Faith, and walk through the forest with the
Devil for one night as the Devil attempts to
convert Goodman from Christianity. Goodman
enters into this with great resolve that his
survival and test of faith will not change, but
the depth of his faith is fairly easily uprooted. As
Goodman and the Devil are walking, Goodman
comes upon his old catechism teacher, Goody
Cloyse, who is headed to the Devil’s meeting
that Goodman is being led to. Goodman is
stunned at the sight of her, as he had
considered her his moral and spiritual guide.
This is the beginning of where Goodman’s faith
fails. As Goodman continues on, he sees many
of the townspeople he had respected and
admired so much for their devout faith in God.
Goodman’s faith begins to crumble because his
Achilles heel was the pride he had in believing
he was a pious man. His faith was never based
on an internal relationship with God; instead,
his faith was mirrored and reflected by the
community he revered. As those around him
showed their true following, Goodman lost all
faith, and became empty.
On this journey, Goodman went into the forest
in search of his soul, following the Devil.

THEME:
The theme of "Young Goodman Brown" is
humanity's weak and corruptible nature. Goodman
Brown lives in Salem with his aptly-named wife
Faith, whose religious conviction assures Brown
that she will be safe while he meets with the Devil.
Brown's faith falters when he sees Goody Cloyse,
his catechism teacher, speak with the Devil. In the
end, Brown's faith hinges entirely on those around
him: as soon as he realizes that his friends and
family are sinners, he loses all faith in humanity and
joins in the Black Mass. He spends the rest of his life
suspicious of everyone around him, ashamed of his
weakness

SUBPLOTS:
 Introduction
Brown leaves Salem at sunset on an
unnamed errand.
 Rising Action
1. Brown meets the Dark Figure in
the road, and they walk on.
 2. The Dark Figure makes Goody
Cloyse disappear with his staff.
3. Brown overhears Deacon Gookin
and the minister.
4. A cloud passes above carrying
voices, including Faith's.
5. Brown flies to the meeting.
Climax:
The Dark Figure almost inducts Brown
and Faith; they resist.
Falling Action:
Brown, suddenly alone, staggers back to
Salem.
Resolution:
Suspicious of the pious, Brown lives
sadly, dies in gloom.

CHARACTER’S
ANALYSIS:
 Goodman Brown :
A young resident of Salem and the story’s
protagonist (main character hero). Goodman
Brown is a good Christian who has recently
married Faith. He takes pride in his family’s
history of piety and their reputation in the
community as godly men. His curiosity,
however, leads him to accept an invitation from
a mysterious traveler to observe an evil
ceremony in middle of the forest, one that
shocks and disillusions him.
 Faith :
Goodman Brown’s wife. Faith is young,
beautiful, and trusting, and Goodman Brown
sees her as the embodiment of virtue. Although
Goodman Brown initially ignores Faith’s claims
to have had disturbing nightmares, seeing her
at the evil ceremony in the forest prompts him
to question his wife’s righteousness.

 The Old Man/Devil :

The man, possibly the devil, who tempts
Goodman Brown into attending the ceremony
in the forest. The man intercepts Goodman
Brown in the middle of the dark road, then
presides over the ceremony. He sees through
the Salem villagers’ charade of Christian piety
and prides himself on the godly men he has
been able to turn to evil.
 Goody Cloyse :A citizen of Salem Village
who reveals herself to be a witch. Goody
Cloyse is a Christian woman who helps young
people learn the Bible, but in secret she
performs magic ceremonies and attends witch
meetings in the forest. Goody Cloyse was the
name of an actual woman who was tried and
convicted of witchcraft during the historical
Salem Witch Trials of 1692; Hawthorne
borrows her name for this character.
 The Minister :The minister of Salem. The
minister, a respectable pillar of the
community, appears to be a follower of the
devil.
Deacon Gookin - A member of the clergy in
Salem who appears to be a follower of the
devil. The deacon is an important man in the
 church of Salem, and Goodman Brown thinks
of him as very religious.
 Martha Carrier: is a resident of Salem,
Massachusetts, who ''had received the devil's
promise to be queen of hell.

WRITERS’s VIEWPOINT:
Throughout his lifetime, Hawthorne felt guilt
over certain actions of his ancestors. The first
Hawthorne to immigrate to Massachusetts
from England was William, a magistrate who
once ordered the public whipping of a Quaker
woman.William’s son, John, served as a judge
in the Salem witch trials of 1692.
Hawthorne’s own father was a ship’s captain
who died when Hawthorne was only four
years old.As a result of his family history,
Hawthorne filled much of his work, including
“Young Goodman Brown,” with themes
exploring the evil actions of humans and the
idea of original sin.Hawthorne ventures inside
himself to see evil and darkness. There is no
unity, only isolation.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Young Goodman Brown symbolizes the
innocence of young good men, who are all
tempted and to some extent all give in.
The story does not emphasize on sin alone, it
emphasizes on the effects of sin. thus to interpret
Young Goodman Brown, the reader must make
the distinction between sin and the effects of sin.
Hawthorne s; Young Goodman Brown, is based on
the ability that evil has to persuade man to do
wrong and the falseness of man s virtues. The
protagonist in the story, Brown, journeyed in the
woods where he discovered that his Puritan
community is not virtuous. Brown discovered that
the entire community including his wife, whom is
portrayed as being pure, indulges in sin and
 therefore Brown s life turns dark due to his loss of
hope

What I liked and loopholes:

I liked the way Hawthorne revealed that all the
righteous people of the village had evil desires
which they concealed from everybody else.
Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith are
both model citizens who have an ideal marriage.
Brown's wife does not realize that her eminently
respectable husband plans to attend some kind of
devil-worshipping activity in the forest; and,
ironically, he discovers that his angelic little wife is
attending the same ceremony and taking a
leading role in the proceedings.
Loopholes are shown by the writer as he doesn’t
tell where Goodman Brown is journeying, nor the
reason. . The “elder person” is never given a
name or an explanation as to why he takes the
physical form of Goodman Brown’s grandfather. I
don’t like the way Hawthorne leaves Brown
miserable and isolated in his life. Hawthorne does
not allow Brown to transcend and leaves Brown
blinded to what he is doing.