In ôYoung Goodman Brown,ö the protagonist is a firm believer in the Puritan religion and faith until he makes a fateful trek through the forest. While in the forest he undergoes a significant transformation. His encounter in the forest with Puritans he once thought pious, taking part in Satanic rituals and practices, forever alters his faith and leaves him an empty and soulless man who questions whether human beings are capable of goodness.
The Puritans believed in original sin due to AdamÆs breaking of GodÆs covenant in the Garden of Eden. In ôYoung Goodman Brown,ö Goodman Brown embarks on a journey into the woods at night where he discovers the Devil. Goodman Brown believes in the piety of the Puritans. When he encounters the Devil he maintains, ôMy father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christiansö (Hawthorne 2). However, the Devil informs Goodman Brown that he has ôbeen as well acquainted with your family as with ever one among the Puritansö (Hawthorne 2). He explains he helped Goodman BrownÆs grandfather lash a Quaker woman and supplied his father with the pitch-pine he uses to set for to an Indian village.
Goodman Brown refuses to believe the Devil and maintains that his family and the Puritans ôare a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickednessö (Hawthorne 2). As they travel further into the woods, Goodman Brown becomes confused when he encounters stalwarts of the Puritan community engaging in Satanic rituals. There he discovers Goody Cloyse, who taught him catechism and still serves as his ômoral and spiritual adviserö (Hawthorne 3). He also discovers that Deacon Gookin and the minister are taking part in the sinful practices he views in the woods. Deacon Gookin shocks Young Goodman Brown when he hears him confess to the minister, ôOf the two, reverend sir, I have rather miss an ordinati...