Young Goodman Brown

The story "Young Goodman Brown" is not anything like the title might indicate. When I first saw it, I thought it was going to be about a “good man” as the title states but ironically this story is about a man choosing evil. I believe this man wasn’t very strong in his beliefs which caused him to be easily swayed from his faith. Faith, being Goodman Brown’s wife plays a very important role in the telling of this story. One could read the whole story with the lower case faith and it would still make sense, because the author intended for this to be taken allegorically. Whether it was a dream or not I am not sure, but either way it did affect him and that is all that really matters. Goodman Brown sees everyone as evil after the initiation has taken place, but I think he is just seeing sinners. However, everyone is a sinner, that is just part of human nature. Throughout the story one can see the fight of the human conscience mind. Goodman Brown often stops on his journey to contemplate his decision but in the end it is the evil that wins over the good and his life is forever changed. I think this story is trying to teach that one needs to be strong in their faith to help them make good moral decisions.