Young Goodman Brown

Hawthorne uses many small symbols throughout his story to match the broader message of his loss of “faith”. The theme of the story, shown with Goodman’s experience in the woods, is clearly about the battle of religion and questioning of faith. Hawthorne uses characters that are created to display the different aspects of his faith journey, and the dream experience in the woods to be symbolic for a lifelong battle with belief.
Hawthorne does this first with the characters by naming his wife Faith. Faith is coherent with God, which is seen as the good side, and his wife embodies this image. She has pretty pink ribbons in her hair, and has a sweet and loving disposition. She is the reason he goes to the ceremony, and he tells her to stay away in the end. In essence he lives for her, as one would live for God. He even names her Faith, which in a biblical sense is the way to God. The “devil” in the story plays to opposition to this. He has a cane with a serpent that seems to slither with life. He is painted in a dismal, almost creepy way, meeting Goodman in the dark words, and leading him astray on a side path. This is exactly what this character does symbolically, he leads away from God.
These characters fall into a broader struggle of religion and faith. While Goodman’s experience was implied to be some kind of a dream, it is these kinds of experiences that effect humans throughout life. Things like the devil that shakes ones faith, and people like Faith, who give people hope and something to live for. And as Goodman ends up bitter and wary of people so do some of the toughest of life’s experiences leave people scarred. When Goodman saw the deacon woman he had thought to be a good Christian he was shaken by the fact that things may not always be what they seem. This is similar to someone being betrayed by someone they once trusted.
Hawthorne does an excellent job of painting characters to fit the story, making Goodman’s experience in the woods lively. He also uses these characters as symbols for some of the greatest battles with religion, faith, and how the hardships of life and effect people. He tells a story that is entirely human and insightful.