Young Goodman Brown Thesis 2 .pdf - 18 March 2019 English...

18 March 2019
English 102 #3254
Lack of Faith Within
Nathanial Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown displays the main character,
Goodman Brown as a newlywed who resides in Salem Village. A pious
community that appreciates the public acts of devotion that showcase their strong
faith. Brown is influenced by many community leaders and his family, who follow
the Puritan code of behavior which concerns him when he begins to question his
own beliefs. His curiosity subconsciously builds up and presents itself as a dream
on the night of Hallows Eve. Brown's dream takes him into the dark forest that
leads him to question his Puritan faith as well as of those in his community, for the
worse. Hawthorne explores the importance of individual values and beliefs through
the naive mindset of Goodman Brown by depicting him as a primitive young man
that holds on to others to project his faith, due to his lack of sense of self. The
author makes it a point to show that the societal standards of Salem Village, that
are centered around good works and never questioning your faith, have negatively
impacted Young Goodman Brown’s ability to think for himself; This is shown in
his inability to see the world in a realistic sense, the fact that his Puritan values

drive most of his thoughts as well as the fact that he keeps his thoughts to himself
in fear of societies reaction to them.
When Goodman Brown watches the congregation of devil worshippers in
the woods, Hawthorne states that “It was strange [for Young Goodman Brown] to
see, that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the
saints (6).” Witnessing those who lived their lives outside of the Puritan’s code of