Goodman Brown's Choices
Goodman Brown is portrayed to be a good man with the best of intentions. As most of us know, however, the best of intentions are not always enough. He begins his evil errand with the firm mindset that "after this one night" he will never do wrong again (Hawthorne 164). Unfortunately, this was not the case for Brown. His resolve is tested several times before the end of the night. Throughout the story, we will see instances where Brown has opportunity but lacks the willpower and discipline to turn back while he still can. The first crack in Brown's resolve comes when he meets the Devil waiting for him in the woods. He explains to the Devil that his Faith caused him to be late, but instead of turning back, he continues forward, "unconsciously resuming his walk" (Hawthorne 165). Here we see the first of Brown's good intentions. We also see that Faith plays two roles in this story; Faith, the wife, and faith the substance of Browns' resolve. Faith the wife is the character of the woman he left behind that night. His faith is also left behind that night after the events take place in the forest.The fact that Brown is not shocked at the appearance of his fellow traveler leads the reader to believe that perhaps Brown ha
The fact that Faith's ribbon is pink allows the reader to understand that she is struggling as well with the decision of good versus evil. At this point I feel Brown has completely given up on himself. If we know how our story ends and we do not like it, then we can rewrite it. These were people that Brown highly respected, honored, and to some extent revered. The first walking stick in the story gives us some background information about Brown's fellow companion. Regardless of what happened after that, Brown was lost to his beloved wife. If he had lost faith in religion all together, then why not disregard the entire night's events? I believe that the faith lost to Brown was his faith in humanity and human nature. The Roman Road is a Christian belief based on the Bible. The author writes that this night in Brown's life, whether dream or reality, was an "evil omen for young Goodman Brown" (Hawthorne172). We see a glimmer of Brown's true nature here, toying with something he really knows he shouldn't be fooling around with. The author writes, "the moment his fingers touched them, they became strangely withered and dried up, as with a week's sunshine" (Hawthorne 167). Brown's Puritan religion and his belief in predestination forced him to deduce that he was bound for hell (Heyrman). It's not until he sees Goody Cloyse that he realizes how far he has actually come and how ashamed he is to be seen with his present company. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race" (Hawthorne 171).
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