The story “Young Goodman Brown” begins at sunset. The place of happening of this story is Salem, Massachusetts. The time of this story is late 17th century. Young Goodman Brown leaves his house and his wife of three months. He starts the journey into a deep dark forest. On the way into the dark forest, he meets his traveling companion. But, the companion is the Devil. The purpose of their journey is to join secret unspecified place. Either the place is holy or not, or ritual place. On the way to dark forest, Goodman Brown expresses reluctance many times, but he does not stop himself to go into the deep dark forest. But, on their journey Goodman Brown recognizes other people from his town.
There were Christians, minister, deacon, as well as the woman who taught him catechism. At that time he becomes very surprised and thinks to return. But at the same time he hears the voice of his wife, Faith. He thinks that his wife, Faith, is also going to take part at that meeting. At that time, he feels that he has lost his faith on religion and has lost his wife, Faith. Now he is in dilemma, whether he returns into his house or continue his journey to the meeting procession. When Goodman Brown sees his wife, Faith, on the altar, he cries out to Faith. The line: “Faith! Faith, look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one” [Young Goodman Brown. 604] shows that he is not willing to go on the procession. In the other hand he tries to stop his wife Faith to go in this procession.
But there he finds himself standing on rock on the forest alone. In the story of Young Goodman Brown:
Whether Faith obeyed he knew not. Hardly had he spoken when he found himself amid calm night and solitude, listening to a roar of the wind which died heavily away through the forest. He staggered against the rock, and felt it chill and damp; while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew. [604]
This situation is very confusing to the reader because either this is dream of Goodman Brown or reality. On the above lines, we can find confusion on reading that whether this is dream of Goodman Brown or real. This is a kind of quality of writing. Anna Charter’s book, The Story and Its Writer, we find this description:
Thus each of us makes, individually, a personal illusion of the world. It may be a poetic, sentimental, joyful, melancholy, sordid, or dismal one, according to our nature. The writer’ goal is to reproduce this illusion of life faithfully, using all the literary techniques at his disposal. [The Writer’s Goal. 1457]
The use of different types of styles makes the literary work joyful, and the illusions of Goodman Brown adds extra elements in story and makes reader active to read . This situation is created illusion in reading.
We can compare this story as Garden of Adam and Eve. In this story, we can find symbolic characters. Goodman Brown is the symbol of Adam. The jungle is as Garden. The fellow company, who waits Goodman Brown in the jungle and goes together, is the symbol of devil. The staff of the company fellow of Goodman Brown is like serpent. Goodman Brown is enticed by the whole jungle. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence.
Goodman Brown appears in this story as human being and he is tempted to learn evil works through the dark forest and he enters into the forest. He was happy with his new wife, but he is curious to learn extra knowledge, he wants to practice evil thing where he may be happy. In this sense, he is not happy with the existing activities of the society. He wants to practice different power of evil. The devil character, whom he meets on the way of jungle, is like serpent. Here we can compare Goodman Brown as “Adam” who is curious to learn prohibited activities, who is facing the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The forest is like the Garden.
The wife of Brown, Faith, appears to represent Brown’s religious faith and his fails in others. The pink colored ribbons stands for innocent condition of Goodman Brown. His wife, Faith, has also losses her innocence by taking part in this procession into the jungle. Brown’s and his wife Faith’s baptism in the evil society of jungle gives the sense of fall from heaven to hell, like the fall of Adam and Eve. When Goodman Brown does baptism, he awakes. He comes in real society of knowledge like when Adam and Eve came in real condition after they ate the fruit of forbidden tree of knowledge. The baptism is like the eating of fruit of forbidden tree. He is in the evil society which is forbidden for normal people. He is now alone in the forest. All the devils and serpent left him alone in the jungle because they fulfilled their purpose. So, they disappeared from the jungle because they have no work to do now.
The whole story is the symbol of human nature. Human has certain concept in mind. The unconscious level of human mind is like the mind of Goodman Brown’s suffers from home to forest and the participation with the evil group meeting procession. The dark side of human behavior is exposed through this story. In the day time, humans are happy, joyful, hope of new happening. But hidden behaviors are confusing, unknown, sinful, and evil. The human who looks very religious in the society may be very different in real situation. The priests may be in different world in dark time. Whole human being is portrayed by the writer through the behavior of Goodman Brown and through his journey of jungle and to whom he meets in the jungle.
In short story, the plot sequence goes from: beginning, middle, and end. Anna Charter’s book, The Story and Its Writer, says,
The first part of the plot, called the exposition, introductions characters, scene, time, and situation. The particular pattern varies from story to story, of course, and from author to author. […..] The second part of the plot is called the rising action, the dramatization of events that complicate the situation and gradually intensify the conflict. […] Then the narrator proceeds to a further development of the rising action, which takes the reader to the climax of the plot or tuning point of the story, its emotional high point. [The Elements of Fiction, 1609-1610]
The beginning of this story is with the introduction of characters: Goodman Brown and his newly married wife, Faith. We can find little introduction about characters. Opening of a short story consist with the description of some main characters and the setting of the story.
The middle of the story is the suffering of Goodman Brown. His feeling of loss of Faith, loss of faith in religion, and the reluctance to the journey to the forest are the development of the actions. In this story the development of the story goes rapidly. The journey with the devil characters and the feeling through the way are very dramatic changing events. The change takes place very dramatically and the writer exposes these events very artfully.
His walks through the forest with the fellow company, the devil are the developing actions of this story. When he says: “My Faith is gone!” It is the development of actions. This is the horror of the scent.
There is further development of the story. In the forest, when there he sees his wife inside the ring of fire formed by the four burning pains. The climax goes here because here is happened unexpected event that is his wife’s participation in this procession.
In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne artistically mixes the theme points in the final paragraph. There is climax of the story, falling action of the story and the ending of the story. It is a beautifully composed single paragraph. Main final actions are happens in the single paragraph.
His realization of the dream, his alone standing in the jungle, his sadness, dark-meditative feeling, and his fearful conditions are clearly described in this story. In this paragraph, all hanging of the whole night is described very clearly. The last one paragraph is the summary of whole story. In good and well organized story, these elements are necessary.
Goodman Brown is a man who has destroyed his enthusiasm by his seeking of extra knowledge through improper way of human practice. He lives a miserable life as a result of the guilt he feels for embarking on a dark journey in his dreams. This happens because his suspicion of everyone in his family, community and the whole human being. The only way Goodman Brown could save his faith is by not suffering the dark forest at the night and not involving in the witches activities with the ghostly creature.
This story is open-ended. Here the writer, Hawthome, leaves open to question whether Goodman Brown’s experience is real or imagined, as in a dream. We can discuss about the story in other was that, “Is Goodman Brown in his bed in dream or in jungle with evil spirits?” or there may com many questions or debate. The debate of a fiction or a work of art is a quality. Many explanations are possible in the good work of art. Fictions should have this quality also.
The writer’s references of Martha Crrier, Martha Cory, and Sarah Closy, all women hanged as witches in 1692. In the same way, the character, King William who ruled England from 1650-1702, tells the history of England of that time. At that time, people were killed, burned, executed and were suspected with their neighbor and devil power. So, the writer, very art-fully, has composed this story with the reference of history. All the characters of this story are symbolic and historical.
This story is in third person narrator. The story teller of this story, Young Goodman Brown, is unknown. So, this story is in the omniscient point of view. In third person narrator, the narrator knows everything. Here, in this story, the narrator or the story teller knows everything about the events or characters. Anna Charter’s book, The Story and Its Writer, says,
The omniscient point of view of third -person narrator is mostly clearly apparent in fairy tales beginning “Once upon a time,” when the teller knows everything there is to know about all the characters, both inside and out –what they think and feel as well as what they do.
All the feelings of the characters, like Goodman Brown, Faith, is know by the story teller. The feeling of Goodman Brown , the relationship between his wife, Faith, the journey of jungle with the devil sprit character, other fellows who were with Goodman Brown.