The Dangers of the Norm and Beliefs in "Young Goodman Brown"
             One of the most dangerous things that a person can do to themselves is become totally set in their ways. A person become so set in their way of life that if something comes along and alters it in the slightest little way it can disturb them psychologically. A great example of this is in Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown." In the story, the character Goodman Brown is extremely set is his belief structure. He believes deep down that all people are God-fearing Christians and they lead completely moral lives. Then suddenly, his world is thrown into upheaval when what could've been a dream, but was in fact reality, interfered with his beliefs and he could no longer trust his fellow man. Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" deals with the dangers of living in the norm by showing the strictness of the Puritan religion, temptation of man, and loss of faith.
             To quote the movie Dogma, "It's good to have beliefs, but I just think it's better to have ideas. I mean, you can change an idea. Changing a belief is a little trickier. People die for them. People kill for them." Now, it is a good thing to have beliefs, but in selecting a belief structure one should be careful. What one person believes might conflict with what another believes and it could cause a rift. That is one of Brown's downfalls. He has himself so wrapped up in his way of life and what he believes that it clouds his mind from the reality that his fellow townspeople do not walk the same line that he does.
             On thing that is present in Hawthorne's writing is his disgust for the Puritan
             religion. Their life of persecution and non-diversity is slightly chaotic. He presents Brown
             with an anal retentiveness to Puritanism, which he follows to a "T." But, he is susceptible to temptation like all humans. Which is why he goes on his midnight jou...