Loss Of Faith in Young Goodman Brown, by Christina Woodson, no use of this work permitted without written consent

Christina Woodson

Dr. Penner

English 207

21 October 2021

Loss Of Faith in Young Goodman Brown

Nonconformity is a recurring theme in literature deriving from the Puritan times. When looking at why it is because the Puritans had a society that was highly contradicting itself. The short story Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells a definitive horror story that critiques Puritan times and how they impacted individuals’ Christianity. The story is a tale that exposes the Puritans from a negative point of view by Hawthorne. What occurs to the titular character through his night in the forest is one that ultimately tests his faith, but does not rob him of his Christianity completely. Taking one night in the forest, represented by the devil and all the evil in the world, he stumbles upon some of the holiest people in his town. The revelation is shocking and disturbing and shakes Goodman Brown of his courage at points, but never robs him of his faith. Though the night drastically changes him as a person, he does not lose his love for God and this is proven through his determination to finish his mission and how he lives his life. 

Using a close analysis of the symbolism of naming Goodman Brown’s wife Faith, the reader can see the allegory behind his spoken word to her. "’ My love and my Faith,’" replied young Goodman Brown, ‘of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee.

My journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs to be done 'twixt now and sunrise. What, my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already, and we but three months married!’" Goodman Brown is speaking to his wife, but it also serves as a foreshadowing idea that in the forest he will have to venture away from his faith. “Forth and back again,” indicates that what the reader learns of his adventure in the forest is something that he will come back to. Historically, the forest represented Satan and devilish ideas to the Puritans making it a perfect setting for Goodman Brown to test his faith which he successfully does. Despite the adventure of discovering that most of his colleagues are devil worshippers, he will return with his faith in hand.

Most of the story can be broken down into Goodman Brown being disappointed in his colleagues for their devil-worshipping, and even more so the hypocrisy that worshipping means. The reader sees how much Goodman Brown is disappointed rather than losing in his Christianity when he learns that his old Catechism teacher, Goody Cloyse is a satanic witch. “‘That old woman taught me my catechism!’ said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.” He is firstly disrespecting a woman of authority in this statement. Exclaiming about her as an old woman is a negative sentiment, though she gave him the gift of his faith. This is important to Goodman Brown, and the reader knows this because his whole quest is to prove his faith, which was mounted in his youth by this teacher. His unbelief is striking and reflects upon Goody Cloyse rather than his faith or himself. The author includes that this comment, though simple, means the world to the titular character. If this was not so important, as we know the story develops to further expose the people of Salem, then Goodman Brown would have simply left. He simply does not believe that a woman who had meant so much to his youth and faith could be the complete opposite of what she preaches and teaches. Through this fact, he does not abandon his faith though he does consider it. Because he is questioning the person who helped him develop his faith does not at all mean he is losing it.

Goodman Brown does not lose his faith by the end of the story, but because of these heavy revelations, he does put the reader through times of questioning if he will succumb to accepting the evils of the world or not. After discovering that Goody Cloyse is a devil-worshipping witch, he becomes distraught to the point he does begin to question if his quest is worth it. He ponders aloud to himself whether he should just take the easy route of going home or trudge on, eventually deciding that his faith in God is too strong and needs to be proved so he continues. Before he does, he wonders aloud to the devil, “‘Friend," said he, stubbornly, "my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand. What if a wretched old woman does choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to Heaven! Is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith, and go after her?’” He is verbally asking if the discovery of Goody Cloyse’s unholiness is worth not continuing for faith as well as his faith in god. Ultimately, because this discovery meant the world to him, the reader knows that no matter what he uncovers that night will phase him more than this initial shock, meaning thereafter he can not see anything that will redefine his faith in god. If the woman who taught him his catechism could be what she does not claim, and it means so much to him, then the horrors of the rest of the night are disturbing but do not deter him from his faith. When characters are faced abruptly with revelations, they usually are quick to turn away or continue. Because Goodman Brown decides that this revelation is not enough to deter him from his mission, the reader can assume that nothing else that he endures through the night would be enough either. The author makes a conscious decision to note that the revelation of Goody Cloyse is a world of meaning to Goodman Brown, whereas the rest of the revelations is mainly horrific and upsetting to him.

Not only does the reader need to look closely at the content of this story to see how proving Goodman Brown is of his faith, but he also announces it soon before he goes into the forest to witness the Black Sabbath. The forest was a test of faith, one that he knew would be trying to him and his faith, so if Goodman Brown was not strong enough he would have long turned back. “I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans, and that's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem. And it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip's War. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight.” The devil coming to him to tell him of his grandfather’s sinful ways would have been enough to break his faith if he was not strong enough. Because the devil was already aware of how weary and slow Goodman’s pace was at the beginning of his journey, this must have been a test to see how far he could go. Furthermore in the story, it is revealed that his deacon and reverend are also venturing off into the woods after the catechism teacher is exposed as a witch. Though he begins to put pieces of the puzzle together in understanding that many respected people of his town are probably devil worshippers, he does not ultimately lose faith. “The hoofs clattered again, and the voices, talking so strangely in the empty air, passed on through the forest, where no church had ever been gathered, nor solitary Christian prayed. Whither, then, could these holy men be journeying, so deep into the heathen wilderness? Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree, for support, ready to sink on the ground, faint and overburdened with the heavy sickness of his heart. He looked up to the sky, doubting whether there was a Heaven above him. Yet, there was the blue arch, and the stars brightening in it. "With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!" cried Goodman Brown.” The passage confirms that no solitary Christian had ever prayed in the forest therefore, nothing that Goodman is going to find venturing off will be holy at all. Despite this, he continues and decides his faith is strong enough. Looking back at the passage, Goodman Brown is distraught and physically ill upon learning this, and the reader can identify how ill he has become with descriptive imagery. Though it takes a glance at the sky to motivate him forward for he believes that is his heaven in the sky and his faith, embodied in his wife that proves his mission to be useful and true. If he can convince himself to continue, knowing he is going to be met with horrific images and expositions of people he loves, nothing can break his faith. Anyone else that shows up to the black mass, which included regular sinners who did not reside with Goodman and the Puritans, is not significant to him nor do they impact his faith as he was already judgemental of them. Finding out these people who he thought were beloved to him were worshipping the devil was far more impactful and would have caused him to go back home if he abandoned his faith in the forest along with his mission. Because he did not, the reader can infer and has substantial evidence that Goodman Brown, shocked and upset at this realization, does not lose faith in the devil. 

Even when the devil is attempting to convert both Goodman and his wife Faith, Goodman attempts to ensure that Faith does not succumb to the life of sin: “‘Faith! Faith!" cried the husband. "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!’” Though Goodman is in the worst of predicaments, he not only believes in his faith he also attempts to distribute it to ensure his wife does as well. If he had lost his faith, he would not be capable of attempting this or fighting, but he does both proving his love and faith in his god. He is strong in his conviction. The worst occurrence to come out of his going into the forest occurs, but his initial faith that drove him into the forest is also what he holds onto until the end. Despite his losing faith in his people, he does not lose faith in his god. 

What Hawthorne writes as Goodman Brown’s remainder of his life following this night further proves that his faith was merely lost in his fellow congregants, not his god. It highlights his disdain for participating in religious activities that he knows are not faithful to their god. Because of this, he does still attend his masses and prays but does not enjoy so in the presence of the sinners. If he had been turned off completely from his faith, it is safe to say he would have left the church and the people who made him miserable until his death. 

“On the Sabbath-day, when the congregation was singing a holy psalm, he could not listen, because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear, and drowned all the blessed strain. (…) Often, awaking suddenly at midnight, he shrank from the bosom of Faith, and at morning or eventide, when the family knelt at prayer, he scowled, muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away. And when he had lived long and was borne to his grave, a hoary corpse, (…) for his dying hour was gloom.” Though he was upset and could not hear the hymns or prayers in church only proves he had problems with individuals rather than his actual faith. If he was not faithful, he would not have chosen to ever go back to Salem, his wife Faith, or the church. Though he knew Faith succumbed to the devil, he chose to remain because he married her in the eyes of god and decided it better to push through as his god would ask than to run away and cower.

Forever traumatized by the events that occurred to him in the forest, Goodman Brown still participates in his faith while disdaining the people he knows are not. Through the use of symbolism in words such as the world of meaning, imagery of physical illness, and direct allusion to how severely upset Goodman Brown is, Nathaniel Hawthorne proves that though he went through a terrible ordeal, Brown never lost his faith in his god. Through a close reading of the text, any reader can understand that his faith is what got him through the night and ultimately caused his pride which is why he stayed. Though Goodman Brown arguably lost his faith in his fellow townspeople, he did not lose it in god or his Christianity. If Goodman Brown had lost his faith, he would not have cared to look down on the people of his town for the rest of his life. He would not need to care to prove his anger and bitterness that Hawthorne so explicitly wrote off because there is nothing to fight for. For Goodman, the sins of people in the congregation meant far much more than that of the regular sinners who attended the black mass which is why he chose to look down upon them. They give him fuel to continue on proving his faith and disappointment that he makes clear in mass or when they decide to portray faithfulness. Examining this, the reader can conclude that he did not lose faith in his god at all and just in the people around him, which similarly enough reflects Hawthorne’s overall views of the Puritans. 

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” 1835