All three of Hawthorne’s stories reflect some variant of mankind’s innate darkness and how often we fail to recognize it. I think the best example of this was “Young Goodman Brown” in which a young man takes a surreal, nightmarish journey though the woods. The journey can be representative of the common man’s inner struggle with faith and morality. The contrasting characters are the old man and the wife Faith, which I construed as the devil and Brown’s actual “Faith” or relationship with God. Evidence for this includes Brown’s excuse or his tardy meeting with the devil being, “Faith kept me back awhile.”
Along the trail Brown runs into both sinister characters and beloved familiar faces. His first shock is to see goody Cloyse, a “good Christian woman” from his past, outted by the devil as evil and sent to hell. He continues to observe satanic ritual style meetings in the woods consisting of both good and evil people. Towards the end he stumbles out of the woods and shuns everyone in the town including his wife Faith. Brown’s eyes were opened to the truth that evil can inhabit all walks of life. The setting of Salem could be referring to the Salem Witch Trials in which Christians murdered in the name of religious righteousness and true evil hid behind the word of God. I think this is what Brown realized and he turned his back on everyone.
I think you make an excellent point Carson! Something I didn't discuss in my blog is how the Devils sabbath in the forest was attended by not only evil people, but also by those who were considered good like the example of Cloyse, a good Christian woman. Here we can see Hawthorne's theme of secret sin play out. The assumption is that outward appearances are only a mere fraction of a person's self. Seeing Cloyse in the open forest to reveal her true identity demonstrates that idea.
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