Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown” focuses on a Puritan man who is being tempted to relinquish his own personal Christian beliefs. A devilish figure along with other characters are persuading him to join them in their “witchy ways”. There are several themes of this story that revolve around religion. This story does a great job of including vivid imagery and symbolism throughout the text, which will be discussed further in detail. This story is set around the time of the infamous witch hunts. The Puritans had a hysterical fear that the devil was among them corrupting them. A relentless pursuit of the witches that worked for the devil pursued. This as most people know, resulted in the deaths and imprisonments of many wrongfully accused women and men. In this specific story, Young Goodman Brown, who is a devout follower of the Puritan religious ideologies, is being led down a path, literally and figuratively, that is tempting him to the devil’s side. At the end of the story, the reader is left in ambiguity if the events in the forest really happened or if it was all a dream. However, Goodman Brown is left affected by these possibly fictitious events for the rest of his life. …show more content…
Goodman Brown sees these important people to him give to temptation and join the devil. He has looked up to these people so to see this, it weakens his own faith and morality. When Goodman Brown first sees Goody Cloyse in the forest consorting with the devil he simply says “That old women taught me my catechisms” (398). This is a simple yet meaningful example of how seeing his religious leaders in this situation takes a toll on him. At the end of the story when Goodman Brown thinks he sees his wife Faith at the devil gathering, this is a final straw. After seeing important religious figures in his life and his own dear Faith succumb to the devil, he gives in as