Young Goodman Brown - Essay Example

“Young Goodman Brown Moral Ambiguity “Young Goodman Brown,” like most of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work, deals with the theme of good and evil. Hawthorne weaves a tale, dealing with morality and human frailty, and then seems to leave it to the reader to interpret it in his own way. Young Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest may be read as a dream, as a real-life story, or as a delineation of the meaning of ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ A dream-like atmosphere pervades the entire narrative, especially those parts which are set in the forest at night. At the same time, the story is simply told, and the various characters are clearly portrayed. One of the outstanding traits of the story is that every character, from the protagonist, Young Goodman Brown, to the general public of the time, is depicted in shades of grey: no one is completely good or bad. Hawthorne’s characterization is marked by moral ambiguity. There are no “good” and “evil” characters. Viewed from this perspective, it can be argued that “Young Goodman Brown” is an illustration of the battle between good and evil which is waged in the deepest soul of every man. The truth of human nature is that every man and woman is an amalgam of good and evil. Hawthorne’s narrative is more concerned with the ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude, and the veneer of hypocrisy, with which the Puritans of New England cloaked their daily lives. Young Goodman Brown’s journey into the forest is a voyage of discovery in which this hypocrisy, in himself, and in the other characters, is unmasked. Young Goodman Brown starts on his voyage cloaked in the complacence of his own rectitude. His confidence borders on conceit. His wife, ‘Faith,’ personifies his own faith, and is the embodiment of all that is good in his nature. In answer to his faith’s plea to remain at home, he brashly says, “What my sweet, pretty wife, dost thou doubt me already?” (Hawthorne, 1033). His sanctimonious advice to her is, “Say thy prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (1033). It is a mark of his hypocrisy that he does not follow his own good advice. He sets forth on his journey deliberately, demonstrating great doggedness in his pursuit of “his present evil purpose” (1033). He does hesitate on his doorstep: “for his heart smote him” (1033). But this is just a fleeting moment of conscience. He overcomes this qualm by the convenient excuse of resolving to be good in the future. Once he has put off his adherence to Faith for the night, he hurries to his tryst with the Devil. Again, he tells the Devil, “I have scruples touching the matter thou wot'st of” (1034). But his weak protest seems to be a mere concession to form, and Young Goodman Brown resumes his walk with little persuasion from his evil companion. Young Goodman Brown’s hypocrisy is very evident in his awareness of the evil purpose of his journey, and in his attempt to hide it from the glare of public knowledge by concealing himself from view. He takes a cut through the woods to avoid being seen by Goody Cloyse. Again, on hearing the approach of riders, he “deemed it advisable to conceal himself within the verge of the forest” (1037). It is another mark of Goodman Brown’s hypocrisy that he justifies his downfall by convincing himself that it is the wickedness of those whom he was falsely led to revere which has led to it. He seeks evil out of his own volition, but does not accept responsibility for his action . He holds Faith’s downfall to be responsible for his final abandonment of his own facade of virtue. He calls out to her to resist evil, but does not himself take the initiative. At the scene of his baptism into evil, Goodman Brown steps forward voluntarily to join the devil worshippers, “with whom he felt a loathful brotherhood by the sympathy of all that was wicked in his heart” (1040). Yet he contends that “The minister and good old Deacon Gookin seized his arms and led him to the blazing rock” (1040). It is characteristic of Goodman Brown’s hypocrisy that he uses the faults of others to justify his own indulgence in evil. This hypocrisy is not confined to the protagonist, but is the hallmark of the general populace of the Puritans. Hawthorne’s depiction of the dense forest itself is symbolic of Puritan hypocrisy: “the traveller knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead” (1024). In the same way, evil lurks unseen in the soul of every man, masked by the hypocrisy of external demeanour. Hawthorne emphasizes this hypocrisy by depicting the setting of the diabolic meeting in the forest in terms of a church gathering. The hymns that the evil congregation sings are cloaked in the familiar tune of grave church hymns, “but joined to words which expressed all that our nature can conceive of sin” (1040). The Devil appears in the guise of a New England divine. The rock on which the fiend stands is compared to a church pulpit or an altar. The burning pine trees depict candles in the church. The congregation which is gathered in the dark forest comprises of “men and women, both pious and ungodly, many of whom he had met at the communion table, and had seen others rioting at the tavern” (1038). Here, Hawthorne emphasizes the hypocrisy of the general Puritan brotherhood, which cloaks an evil nature with a false veil of virtue. The church-goers are as evil at heart as the frequenters of taverns. The members of that dark congregation are drawn from every strata of Puritan society, and include councilors, ministers, high society dames, reputed spinsters and young maidens. Mingling with “these grave, reputable, and pious people” (1039), are others of openly evil lifestyles, ruined reputations and criminals. By pointing out that “the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints” (1040), Hawthorne equates the hypocrites with their overtly evil brethren. This point is reinforced by the fact that Faith is brought to the forest altar by Goody Cloyse, who cloaks her witchcraft under the guise of piety, and Martha Carrier, who brazenly lives as the Devil’s subject. In the Devil’s sermon, he clearly strips the veneer of respectability from the New England Puritans, listing the hidden deeds that lie buried under the cloak of virtue: adultery, murder, patricide, abortion. Hawthorne demonstrates that a virtue which is not founded on one’s own moral integrity, but is based on the perception of virtue in others, cannot stand the test of evil. Young Goodman Brown starts out armed, not with his own faith, but with his belief in the goodness of his wife. He resolves, “after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven” (1033). Likewise, he attempts to put off his evil companion by referring to the moral strength of others. He first invokes, with considerable pride, his ancestry: “We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs” (1034). The Devil claims his close acquaintance with his father and grandfather when they indulged in vile acts of wrongdoing. Young Goodman Brown then goes on to invoke the supposed moral rectitude of the general population among the Puritans of New England, who are “people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness” (1035). This position is quickly undermined by the demon, who boasts of being on intimate terms with public personages ranging from the deacons to the governor. Coming closer home, Young Goodman Brown holds up the virtue of the minister, “that good old man,” (1035), Goody Cloyse, “that pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism in his youth,” (1035), and Deacon Gookin. Again, the Devil demonstrates his familiarity with each one of these three moral advisors. Goodman Brown overhears the minister and Deacon Gookin looking forward to the same evil pleasure towards which he is hurrying. Young Goodman Brown’s shaky moral foundation begins to tremble. He now clings to his belief in the faultless virtue of his wife: “With Heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (1038). The final blow is struck by the Devil when Young Goodman Brown’s faith is demolished when his wife’s pretty pink ribbons come fluttering down. He abandons himself to despair. The author’s condemnation of hypocrisy is further highlighted by the device of sandwiching the sinister forest setting, in which the evil congregation of Devil worshippers gathers, between two placid town settings. The narrative begins and ends on a calm street in Salem village. A pretty Faith sees him off at the start of the story and, at the conclusion, the minister meditates on his sermon, the deacon is at prayer, Goody Cloyse teaches a child its catechism, and Faith is filled with happiness at his return. Hawthorne uses Goodman Brown’s dream, or journey, to demonstrate that “The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man” (1039). Hawthorne thus holds hypocrisy to be the greatest evil that besets Puritan society. The moral ambiguity of “Young Goodman Brown,” is not resolved. Even the Devil is painted in shades of grey: “as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race” (1041). The protagonist is permanently altered by his experience in the forest: be it a dream or reality. As for the reader, Hawthorne’s one definite message is that every person is an amalgam of good and evil. The entire narrative can be read as a indictment of the hypocrisy which characterizes the world. Works Cited. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Reidhead, Julia.  W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.  New York, NY. 2007. 6- . Print.   http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawYoun.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 Read More