Dialectical Journal: Young Goodman Brown

Young Goodman Brown, with his innocence and curiosity, decides to attend an evil
ceremony in the forest. He just married to Faith, a woman whom he regards as a saint, thus he feels
reluctant and guilty on his way to the ceremony. Nonetheless, he has come across many virtuous
people, so he starts to doubt the goodness of humanity. In the end, he finds out that Faith also joins
the ceremony; therefore loses all his faith in the goodness of the world.
Throughout Nathaniel Hawthornes short story, Young Goodman Brown, she illustrates
the idea of faith by the use of pun. While young Goodman Brown is going to leave his house to the
ceremony, Faith begs him to stay with her, as she is afraid of a nightmare. As he is replying to her,
he refers to her as My love and my Faith.( Hawthorne, pg.1). The author plays on the actual
meaning of the term Faith, and the name of Faith, in order to imply that she is his conviction on
the goodness. He believes that Faith is the model of purity she commits only good deeds, and
always has a pure mind; therefore will go to heaven after death: Ill cling to her skirts and follow
her to Heaven.(Hawthorne, pg.1). As he is walking in the forest, he meets a stranger who he has
made an appointment before. The stranger claims that he is late, and Goodman Brown replies that
Faith kept me back awhile,(Hawthorne, pg.2). Here, the author plays on words the second time.
The reason why Goodman Brown is late is because of Faith. It can be interpreted in two different
ways his wife begs him to stay, or the conscience holds him back. However, both of the
interpretations have something in a common which is his belief in the goodness; its what holds him
back from decisively committing a sinful action.
In addition to this, Hawthorne also uses symbolism in order to illuminate the lose of faith.
While he is heading to the ceremony, he runs into a lot of people whom he thinks they are virtuous
and good, for instances, Goody Cloyse a religious woman who taught Christianity to him when
he was younger , and Deacon Gooking a deacon who he deeply respects. As a result, he begins
to wonder if the world has only sinners. However, its his belief in faiths purity that still gives him
some hopes on the worlds goodness. Unfortunately, while he was looking at the sky, he hears
Faiths voice, and realizes that she is also going to the ceremony. He tries to call her with
desperation and agony, but what follow are her loud scream and her pink ribbon which drifts down
the air: But something fluttered lightly down through the air, and caught on the branch of a tree.
The young good man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon.(Hawthorne, pg.6). Throughout the story,
the author often mentions Faiths pink ribbons. Pink colour is seen as a colour of a young girl which
can give a sense of innocence and purity; therefore represents Goodman Browns faith in the
goodness of humans. Nevertheless, when Goodman Brown realises that his wife is also evil, his
faith is broken, like Faiths pink ribbons that have flown off her hair.
Personally, I have experienced something similar. When I was young, I had one friend that
seem to be the most virtuous, generous, and modest. She always behaved properly, and obeyed
teachers. She was a part of a group of my best friends at that time. However, she often talked about
her accomplishments some of which were incredible and unbelievable. She told us that she was a
successful writer with a number of fans, but none of us had read her novels before, because she
never let us read. Once, she told us that she got a scholarship to study in German, but she refused to
go. What made it unbelievable was that she said she had to take English and German essay tests, but
neither had she ever pass any English exams at school, nor was capable of using German.
Accordingly, my other friends and I started to doubt her, and tried to find out if she was lying. Once,
she bragged that in her dining room, she had a big dining table with a conveyor belt, and she sent
the picture of it to me. As a result, I tried to find that picture on google, and I found out that she took
it from the internet. There were much more things that my friends and I once believed, but as time
passed and we knew her much better, it made us change our attitude toward her. Even one that
seems to be the purest also has a bad side. Its the truth of the world. I believe that there is no such
thing as an absolute goodness or an absolute evil. Everything has both good and bad sides at the
same time. This is what makes the world become balanced. Likewise, in taoism, people believe in
Yin the shady side, and Yang the sunny side. The universe is formed by Yin and Yang;
therefore everything is composed of them for examples, day and night, and male and female.

Praewa Kobkurkul (Mild)