Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the small conservative town of Salem, Massachusetts. Nathaniel was the great grandson of the judge who presided over the infamous Salem witch trials. As a result of Hawthorne's influences, he developed resentment toward "Puritan Pride", and wrote an allegory of his feelings in 1835. In "Young Goodman Brown", Hawthorne expresses the idea of man and puritan belief by using great symbolism such as the title of the character, his wife's name, and the color pink.
             Puritans sacrifice their faith and try living self-righteously. Their attempt to live without faith failed, because no one involved was a righteous person.
             Hawthorne also incorporates "pink" as a symbol in the story. Hawthorne uses pink as a symbol four times in the story. In the Bible, the color scarlet represents sin, while white signifies purity. Therefore, the color pink serves as a symbol that represents the blend of purity and sin, Hawthorne also mentions "Faith, with pink ribbons"(Hawthorne 487), inferring his faith takes on this blend of purity and sin. Finally, Goodman Brown exclaims to Faith, "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!"(Hawthorne 492) In the end, this causes Goodman Brown to never completely lose his faith.
             Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote "Young Goodman Brown" to portray the negativity of man and the controlling Puritan faith he lives in. Hawthorne secretly expresses meaning in the story by using symbolism. The name Goodman brown symbolizes more than just a name, but the personality of the person. The color pink represents the person's mixed emotions on faith, and his wife's name Faith represents his overall religious belief.
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