The Bad Of Goodman Brown
The Bad of Goodman Brown
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown", we experience the tale of a man who takes a journey with a mysterious companion, learning along the way that those whom he relies on as spiritual anchors are all corrupt, and in the end, is corrupted himself. Goodman Brown becomes a "stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man" for the rest of his life. Were his friends and family really evil people? Was this event in his life simply a lucid dream? While those are certainly interesting questions, I feel the biggest questions are asked far less often. How could the events of one evening in the woods break a man's faith for the rest of his life? Was Goodman Brown really "good" to begin with? Evidence would indicate that Goodman Brown as a jaded, confused, and possibly corrupt man before he began his journey in the woods. It would seem that his motivation for doing good had more to do with what others might think of him, and less with his own appreciation of good, evil, right, and wrong. Whether or not the events of the story are real or imagined to the protagonist, the end results are the same.
Goodman Brown's predisposition to evil is easily recognized in his name. The word, "Goodman", according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is "a vague title of dignity or a respectful form of address". Additionally, it is "applied euphemistically to the Devil". In American and Scottish folklore, the devil is sometimes called "Goodman", or "The Goodman", and Hawthorne would likely have been aware of this due to his research into the history of both cultures (Apseloff). This could perhaps be some insight to Hawthorne's own perception of the protagonist, suggesting that the Devil is a part of Goodman Brown, just as much as his name. No other character in the story is given the title of "Goodman", underscoring its significance to Goodman Brown within the context of the story. This reinforces the...
View Full Essay