The tale “Young Goodman Brown” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. The story’s focus is on Goodman Brown, who resides in Salem village with his wife-Faith, during the Puritans period. It opens with Goodman Brown setting off on a mission in the woods, leaving his wife behind. In the woods, he meets up with a suspicious older man, who has a close resemblance to Brown himself. As they talk, the cloaked man explains how Goodman’s ancestors were his friends. The man then goes ahead and intimates that he is the devil before offering his walking stick to Goodman. Their journeys’ purpose is joining a blasphemous ritual. As they walked together, they come across Goody Cloyse, commonly known in the village for her giving heart. Goodman even tries to hide from her to avoid being questioned. However, to his utter surprise, the woman confirms that she is a witch, and the cloaked man was the devil. Eventually, the journey’s destination is reached as they arrive at the ceremony, where Goodman sees many people from his village, his wife inclusive and Deacon Gookin. The two- Goodman and Faith are inducted to the cult. Goodman tries to convince his wife to resist the temptation, but he, unfortunately, finds himself in the woods again. He is unsure of what had just happened. Then he returns home and no longer sees the good in people, especially in his wife.
Hawthorne presents various themes in the story. The first theme is the inevitable loss of innocence. This is evident when Goodman loses his innocence after being corrupted by the cloaked man. The second one is public morality. This is evident when we see religious people like Goody Cloyse getting involved in dark actions. The third one is the fear of the wilderness. In the story, we see Goodman looking tensed while in the woods. To make this story more appealing, Hawthorne has used imagery as one of the literally devices. Imagery has particularly been used in describing things or rather an event narration. Another literally device used is symbolism. The story symbolizes innocent young men who are tempted beyond their limits and change.
Conclusively, as we have seen in the story, we shouldn’t judge people with what we see them so publicly. People might be giving off gifts to others in public places, but in the real sense, their hearts are dark. Generally, our society is filled with many who preach water but drink wine, so never should we easily trust others.