"Young Goodman Brown" is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story was set in Puritan New England and follows Young Goodman Brown on his journey into the depths of an evil forest, which results in the loss of his faith. There are many themes in this short story, like society's public morality. This often weakens private religious faith. Although Goodman Brown decided himself to go into the forest, he still hides ashamed when he sees Goody Cloyse, the minister, and Deacon Gookin. He is more concerned with how his faith looks to other people instead of how his faith applies to himself. This kind of faith is easily weakened, and when he sees so many respectable people joining in the evil meeting, he caves easily and goes himself. Another theme to this story is his loss of innocence. Goodman Brown allowed himself to be so easily corrupted, and and instead of being corrupted by an outside source, he made a personal choice to go into the woods and meet with the devil.
This short story made some connections with "The Scarlet Letter". Although the "wrong-doings" were different, both characters in the story went into the woods to do something they weren't used to doing. The fine line between good and evil is drawn in both, and it is in the woods where Hester commits her crime of passion. Hester feels that she can be herself in the forest, and Goodman Brown feels nervous about the wilderness, but both characters experience a life changing event in the woods. Young Goodman Brown also relates to the Bible, because Eve had the same problem resisting the devil in the woods. Both Goodman Brown and Eve gave in to the darkness of the forest, and the cane of the man in "Young Goodman Brown" had a serpent on it, like the serpent that tempted Eve to eat the apple from the tree."Young Goodman Brown" had a lot of impact and is noted as a deep, valuable piece of writing of early American Literature.
One connector that could be related today is the movie "Twilight". Although very different plots, the main character struggles with the "norm" and the vampires she is surrounded by. She feels tugs between the "good" and "evil", but the more people she sees in this different light, the more willing she is to cave into their beliefs.
People in today's society deal with the battle between good and evil; some see it every single day. The easiest example is the Christian religion. As the world is changing, it can be hard to keep your faith towards God. There are horrible things going on even in our country, and people well-respected are doing horrific things and turning away from their own religion. These situations could weaken someones faith and maybe even their beliefs, just as Goodman Brown was weakened. Even when Goodman Brown discovered that his own wife, Faith, was turning to the dark side when he was, he told her to look up to Heaven and resist the devil. That is what so many people still do today. When things are falling apart, they look towards Heaven for their help. Some people lose their battle and give in to the evil of this world, but there are still those of us who turn our eyes upon Jesus always.
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