Young Goodman Brown believes that he lives in the most perfect world where all is good, and no evil exists. Although, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” tells a twisted story of a newlywed learning of all the evil that is in this world. In the end, the narrative reveals that many people give in to temptation and sin. In this case, the devil himself persuades town members into sinning against their beliefs, and eventually Young Goodman Brown himself. Hawthorne puts an unusual twist on the beliefs of Puritans showing that not one human being is as faithful to their religion as they claim to be because of temptation which leads to sin.
In the village of Salem lies an abundance of Puritan residents. They believe in staying faithful to the Lord, and refraining from anything that would go against the churches word. In this case, it was sinning and temptation that ruined Young Goodman Browns life. The story begins with the sinning of Young Goodman Brown. The text reads, “My journey as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs to be done ‘twixt now and sunrise.” (Hawthorne 2422). Faith, Goodman Brown’s wife, believes he is going on an ordinary trip, but
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No one could possibly follow the strict regulations of abiding by all the principles of the church without sinning, or giving in to temptation at least once. Sadly, it is in everyone’s nature to violate their religious beliefs whether intentional or not. Although, literary critic Lawson makes one good point, “When he discovers that he is simply another sinner, simply another member of a corrupt race, he loses all dignity, all capacity for moral inquiry…then, for the first and only time in the story, he calls on God for assistance.” (Lawson 9) If there’s one thing that has not changed since the seventeenth century, it is that God is always there in times of