The Main Character's Personal Struggle
             Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" takes place during the end of the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts. The main characters are Goodman Brown, his wife Faith, and the stranger who accompanies Goodman Brown in the forest. The story's protagonist embarks on a metaphorical errand in which he plans to confront the evil within himself. Unprepared to accept sin as part of his human nature, Goodman Brown rejects this idea, prescribing to his own doom, and ultimately undergoes a revolutionizing change.
             The theme of "Young Goodman Brown" centers on the conflict Goodman Brown has between joining the ranks of the devil and remaining "good"(67). It is a very difficult personal journey for the main character in this story, as he travels through the woods to follow an inner desire to become a witch, all the while thinking of all the "good" things (like his wife, Faith) he would be leaving behind. Initially, Brown bids his wife, Faith farewell at their front door. It is in the evening in the village, and he is leaving on his guilty errand, which his wife begs him not to go on. She pleads by saying, "Prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed to night"(67). Even though Faith pleaded, Brown nevertheless leaves on his errand.
             Though Goodman Brown balks at making his spiritual trek without the security of his religious virtue, he must make it alone. Due to the fact that he cannot allow the bias of his Christian upbringing to confuse the true strength of his character, for he likely regards this journey as a cleansing. "After this one night," he says of Faith, "I'll cling to her skirts and follow her into Heaven"(68). He feels he must first face his demons to deserve entry into the kingdom of God.
             When Brown encounters the shadowy figure with whom he has planned his...