If this is true, then that would mean Brown is the grandson of the devil himself, and he would not be afraid or angry at the devil, he would embrace him. Of course, since Brown turns into such an unhappy and strange old man, it could be said that he did indeed fulfill the prophecy, and he was the devil, while those around him were not. One literary critic puts it a little bit differently. He writes, "Young Goodman Brown experiences in the Salem woods his other self, his inner demon" (Moores). Another critic agrees, and writes, "Hawthorne removes the mask of piety from his characters to show that the real devil is the one lurking within each individual" (Maus 76). Young Goodman Brown becomes then, what he is most afraid of, and that is the true sadness of the story, and it seems like that is the real message Hawthorne was trying to get across to his readers. We all have evil inside us, but we can choose whether to let that evil out or not.
The story was interesting to read, and I think it illustrates the interest in religion that was prevalent during the time the author wrote the piece. He uses satire effectively, as the devil reminds Goodman that he was there with his father and grandfather during some violent and hateful acts against others, which shows the intolerance...
Brown is intolerant of anyone he thinks he saw in the forest, which shows the self-righteous side of religion that often pits one person's religious beliefs against another's.
In
conclusion, "Young Goodman Brown" is an interesting story that shows what kind of evil lives inside people, and what it can do to people if they allow it to control them. Brown is a sad character because he cannot accept that evil, and yet he allows it to take over his life and ruin it.
References
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Mosses from an Old Manse. Vol. 1. New York: John B. Alden, 1888.
Maus, Derek. "The Devils in the Details: The Role of Evil in the
Short Fiction of Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol and
Nathaniel Hawthorne." Papers on Language & Literature 38.1 (2002): 76.
Moores, D.J. "Young Goodman Brown's 'Evil Purpose': Hawthorne and the Jungian Shadow." Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 27.3-4…
