In my reading of Nathaniel Hawthornes classic "Young Goodman Brown" I was left with the impression that Browns tribulation involved a battle in which both good and evil were present. I feel an appropriate theme for this work would be "faith should be placed in God, not in man." Because one professes to be true with God does not necessarily mean that he is. In this story it is made clear that man is only flesh and cannot be held accountable for any man but himself. Young Goodman Brown was a tragic victim of deception.
             Brown the main character in the story represented everything that was good. He was a loving faithful husband, a good Christian and a pillar of the community. His wife, Faith's outward appearance would indicate the same. Brown simply adored her. Throughout the story Hawthorne used the wife as a symbolic representation of biblical faith. No doubt, that was the underlying reason for him using Faith as the character's name. A good Christian man must always keep faith at his side, as a husband does a wife.
             Brown also had another companion at his side the night he lost his faith. A man, known only as the traveler. The traveler represented the only reality in the story. His overall purpose was to help Brown see the light. Only it wasn't the light that Brown was accustomed to hearing about. The light of which the traveler spoke represented the darkest sides of all whom Brown loved and admired. His teacher, preacher, parents, and yes, even his Faith.
             The binary oppositions in this story are abundant. ..."Faith peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of pink ribbons." (351) Represents deception and innocence. The deception being her forward reluctance at his departure, when actually she was glad to see him leave. The innocence being the pink ribbons associated with virtuousness and purity. "It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the sinners and at th...