In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" we are introduced to Goodman Brown, a young pious man who has agreed to meet with the devil. Goodman's mission is to view for himself the evil doings of the supposedly rightous members of his puritan community.
             In the story, Goodman leaves his wife of 3 months to satisfy his morbid curiousity and view a witch's black mass. He travels on Halloween night, the one night of the year when the witches are rumoured to hold their evil gatherings. As he leaves the safety of his village to enter the dark forest, he is met by the devil. The devil taunts Goodman with tidbits of information regarding Goodman's own bloodline both to torment him and to plant the seeds of doubt into his mind about the piousness of his own forefathers. Goodman tried to turn back on his journey but the devil blocks him by offering new information to whet his curiosity. For example, the devil points out an elderly woman that is walking on the road ahead of them. Goodman recognizes her as the woman who taught him his catechism as a young boy. Goodman hides in the woods terrified that the woman may see him with the devil and think he is in employment of the devil but when Goodman witnesses the devil greeting the woman, Goodman is mortified at the familiarity she has with his evil companion. As the night wears on Goodman is eventually separated from his guide but instead of turning back he stays on his path due to the continuing bombardment of more evidence of participation in this witch's gathering by the most righteous and upstanding members of his community. From out of the darkness of the black mass he hears one voice in particular freezes his heart, his own beloved wife's. Now he is unable to turn back. He now has to rescue his wife from becoming one of the evil doers but in the end he fails in his task. He is left with his growing distain for her and the bitter knowlege that all people are prone to falling from grace w...