Keeping The Faith Essay, Research Paper

Keeping the FaithIn the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Goodman Brown dared to venture into the forest and expose himself to the trickery of the devil. During Goodman Brown’s journey the devil planted the seed of doubt in him, causing Brown to have ambigious thoughts about loved ones, fellow towns-people, and God. These thoughts led Goodman Brown to a life of despair. As Goodman Brown kissed his beautiful wife goodbye, he assured her this was the last time he would leave her alone. Uncertain of what the night had in store for him, Goodman Brown set forward on his journey into the forest. Shortly into his trip, Goodman Brown began to feel parinod. He felt the presesce of evil around him. At that moment Goodman Brown saw the man with whom he had agreed to meet with tis night. Upon fulfilling his agreement to meet with the elderly man, Brown decided it was time to end his journey into the forest and return home to his wife. Upon hearing this, the elderly man began to tell Goodman Brown of others who had taken this journey before him and beconed him to travel onward. As the two men traveled deeper into the forest, Goodman Brown explained that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, both of whom were honest, God fearing, Christian men. The elderly man laughed and told Goodman Brown of how he had once aided Brown’s grandfather in lashing a woman through the streets of Salem, and how he helped his father in setting fire to an Indian village during King Phillip’s war. He also told Goodman Brown that both of these men were his good friends and both had made this journey.

These thoughts weights heavy upon the mind of Goodman Brown as the two men continued their journey. The elderly man goes on to inform Brown that he has drank commuion wine with deacons, and that the politicians are firm supporters of his interests. The two men noticeda female figure on the path ahead of them. Goodman Brown identified the woman as Goody Cloyse, one of his spiritual advisers. Not wanting to be seen in the presence of the elderly man, Goodman Brown ventured off the path and into the woods. When the elderly man touched Goody Cloyse with his staff she called him by his name. This led Brown to assume she knew the elderly man. At this time, the seed of doubt was planted and hence-forth did grow. Goodman Brown wandered into the night, chased by voices that seemed to be coming from the depths of the clouds. Brown identified the voices as those of the towns-people, andone voice inparticular caught his attention, the one of his beautiful wife, Faith. She was one of the converts that had came to partake in the evil rituals. As the closing moments of the ceremony were upon them, Goodman Brown mustered every ounce of faith that he had left, and cried to his beautiful wife, “Faith! Faith! look up to the heaven, and resist the wicked one.” These could possibly have been the last kind words Goodman Brown ever spoke. Was Goodman Brown dreaming? Did the ceremony actually take place? It really didn’t matter: the ability of the devil to cast doubt faith in redemption caused him to not be redeemed, but die to gloom. asby [email protected]