In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown", the author reveals that all people, no matter what their appearance or status, are susceptible to sin. The tale opens with the protagonist, Goodman Brown leaving his home and wife to make a journey into the woods. Brown meets an older man in the woods who carries a serpent staff and resembles himself. Brown appears frightened of this man and even speaks "with a tremor in his voice" (404). Brown resents the trip telling his companion that neither his father nor grandfather had these troubles. The older man reveals that both of them had served him in through evil deeds. This is significant because Brown believed that his ancestors were perfect and infallible people, when in truth, they committed cruel actions. His ancestors are not the only corrupted people; the old man mentions that he drinks communion with the church deacons, he is the chairman of the selectmen, and that he has control over much of the government. Once again, Brown is amazed at this prospect because so many people that he respects suddenly seem more human than they were seen to him before. They come upon Goody Cloyse who is another respect and religious person in the church, but when the older man approaches her, she talks with him in a friendly tone and even speaks about a fellow witch. This amazes Brown since "'That old woman taught me my catechism'" (406). All of the people weigh down on him and he insists to take a break. After a few minutes resting, he hears the voices of the minister and the deacon making their way to this meeting. This shakes his belief in heaven and he questions "whether there really was a heaven above him" (407). A black cloud comes and makes him believe the devil has taken faith. This is symbolic as Faith is representative of both his religious faith and his love for his wife. In anger and defiance he makes his way to this m
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