In the story of "Young Goodman Brown" Hawthorne uses distinct symbolism when identifying his characters. The names of his characters are symbolic in their meaning; Hawthorne uses the idea of nature to put forth his point that his stories are symbolic to real life. As he states from the preface to the eighteen fifty one edition of Twice-Told Tales; "Even in what puport to be pictures of actual life, we have allegory, not always warmly dressed in its habilments of flesh and blood as to be taken into the reader's mind without a shiver."
             The name Faith is used in the story as Goodman Brown's wife has a strong symbolic meaning. As Herman Melville points out when speaking of Hawthorne's tragic vision, "There is a grand truth about Nathaniel Hawthorne. He says NO! in thunder, but the Devil himself cannot make him say yes. This to the idea of whether Goodman Brown's decisions about his own faith is true or not maybe, it is Hawthorne questioning his own faith through his character.
             Goodman Brown is a faithful man, but is unsure of his faith at times. When his wife asks him not to go to the woods to meet the man, he feels he must go. This shows how he is questioning his faith by ignoring his wife's wishes for him to stay.
             "Dearest heart," whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were close to his ear, "prithee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she's afeard of herself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year!"
             "My love and my Faith," replied young Goodman Brown, "of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee."
             When Goodman Brown says he must go, it shows that this is the ultimate test of his faith. Because Goodman Brown wishes to test his faith, it seems...