Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne Suggests That

¶ … Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne suggests that a young man's nightmare about his wife being sucked into a witch's cult sours him on his wife as well as their larger community, and causes him to live out his life as a bitter and suspicious man. However, other points in the story argue against the events being a dream. Near the end of the story, Nathaniel writes, Had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? Be it so, if you will.

But, alas! It was a dream of evil omen for young Goodman Brown. A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man, did he become, from the night of that fearful dream." However, by considering the rest of the story, it seems unlikely that Goodman saw the events in a dream.

If they were real events, he was justified to be suspicious not only of his good wife but of many others in the town as well, for if Goodman Brown had no purpose in his midnight walk, he did a foolish and dangerous thing. For instance, he thinks to himself, "There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree." If this is so, being out in the forest at midnight was risky behavior.

There is no mention that Brown was armed, and mentions in the story of atrocities against the Indians. The reader has to assume that coming upon an Indian in the dark, alone and unarmed, would be dangerous. There were no doubt other unnamed dangers as well as the more fanciful one (by today's standards) that he might run into the Devil. But people believed in witchcraft then, so it should be viewed as a realistic fear.

There is not ever given any explanation for Brown's presence in the woods that night except to meet up with others interested in witchcraft. At the opening of the story, Hawthorne writes, "Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose." Perhaps he was going to gather evidence of witchcraft, since he expected to return to his wife's bosom, but Hawthorne reveals other emotional thoughts of Brown's to the reader. He leaves that out.

It seems just as likely that Brown intended to indulge in the occult just one time to achieve some goal, and then never participate in it again. A little further in the story, Brown reveals that he has.