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MANKINDS INHERENT EVIL Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown tells the story of a young man who lives in Salem, Massachusetts. In the story, Goodman Brown takes a journey through the heathen wilderness (201) and comes upon a witchcraft ceremony. All of the townspeople are there, which leads Brown to believe that they are all evil. At the end of the story, Brown wakes up in the woods and walks back into town. He does not know if the previous nights activities were real or if they were a dream. Nevertheless, it makes Brown suspicious of everyone.
This shows that, since mankind is inherently evil, we all have sins that we cannot escape. This is shown through the characterization, style, and through the point of view. In the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is leaving on an evil journey. He does not want to go, but he feels as though he must go. He feels that even though he is about to do something evil, he will still be able to get into Heaven by clinging onto his wife, Faith. This pun says two things.
One, it shows that we cannot escape are sins. It illustrates this by Brown thinking that he will not be able to get into Heaven because of this one sin that he is about to commit he cannot escape this sin. Another thing that this pun points out is that we cannot get into Heaven unless we cling onto faith. Hawthorne suggests throughout the story that all of mankind is evil. He does this by his characterization. When Goodman Brown claims that his family has always been a good Christian family.
The Devil replies by saying that he has helped Browns father and grandfather do evil things. Hawthorne also places the Deacon and the Minister at the witchcraft ceremony. This implies that even our spiritual leaders have sin. In fact, the whole town of Salem was present at the ceremony. By doing this, Hawthorne is insinuating that everyone has sin. Brown finds it hard to believe that everyone is evil.
He refuses to admit that he could be evil, or that his wife could be evil. Hawthorne's style is also important in the development of this theme. One major aspect of his style, his use of puns, is extremely successful at developing this theme. Goodman Browns wife is named Faith. Her name is used several times as a pun. When the Devil remarks that Brown was late, Brown replies by saying that Faith kept me back awhile (197).
This obviously has more than one meaning. Another time when Hawthorne uses Faiths name as a pun occurs shortly after Browns experience involving the cloud of voices. When Faiths pink ribbon falls out of the sky, Brown knows that the voices have taken her somewhere terrible. Then he screams: My Faith is gone! (202). This statement has a double meaning as well. One is the obvious, that his wife has been taken from him.
The other meaning is that Brown has lost his faith because of the situations unfolding around him. The point of view used in this story is also important to the development of the theme. This story is told through Goodman Brown. Brown is a young, self-proclaimed Christian. He, like so many others, believes that he, as well as his ancestors, are free of sin.
However, after his encounters in the forest, he realizes that not only does he have sin, but that everyone else does too and that there is no way to escape that sin. Although Hawthorne's choice for a theme in this story is a touchy subject, he does an excellent job illustrating and supporting his idea that none of mankind is free of sin. He shows that there is no escape from this sin, and that we must hold on to our faith in order to get into Heaven. Brown learns that he cannot escape his sin, even though he is not sure if the what he experienced was real or a dream. WORK CITED Hawthorne, Nathaniel.
Young Goodman Brown. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. X.
J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7 th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 196 - 206.
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Research essay sample on Young Goodman Brown Point Of View
