In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, tries heavily to mark the significance of the title character’s transition to evil. Hawthorne uses the passage, “On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting fourth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man.” (640) to describe the main character’s behavior after he has accepted evil. The passage itself can easily be described as the rising action of the story. In this passage we see Goodman Brown giving into the darkness of the world, as he has just accepted the devil’s ways. Throughout the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is on the fence the offer of evil. He is clinging to the fact that he comes from a good family, town, and household and has a seemingly good natured wife, Faith. During Brown’s walk in the forest, it is revealed to him, little, that the people in his community, the people he holds in such high esteem, are not what they appear to be. Brown’s pastor, deacon, and other significant townsfolk all appear to be wicked people in league with the devil. The townsfolk reveal their dark sides and seemingly evil intentions. The mere fact that Goodman Brown is taking this walk with a man who appears to be the devil, suggests that he is teetering towards the darker path. The notion that keeps him toward light, in the beginning, is the thought of his wife, Faith. When just about everyone Brown knows reveal their true nature, it appears to overwhelm Brown. The weight of this revelation causes Brown to give up his resistance, but only after he momentarily forgets about his beloved Faith. The passage begins right after Brown has taken the staff from the man he now knows to be the devil. Having fully given into evil, Brown now seemingly revels in it. By taking the staff, Brown relinquish the weight of his resistance, giving him an exuberant amount of new found energy and excitement. While walking through the forest of black pine trees, Brown is described as flinging the staff, almost weapon like, with wildly uncontrolled excitement. This part of the passage conveys a frightening image to the reader, making Brown seem dangerous and out of control. Holding the staff also seems to inspire Brown with new speech, yelling blasphemous words and shouting at the top of his lounges through the forest. With echoes of his devilishly loud laughter, Brown has now become synonymous with the demons surrounding him. In the sentence “The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man.” The author conveys that the evil surrounding Brown is not as terrible as the evil within him. Rather, when he takes on the persona of another evil entity, Brown is more terrible. This sentence gives the reader the perception that Brown has not only fully accepted the darkness but is at one with it. An argument can be made that the root of Brown’s
