Loss Of Innocence In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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Born-Again Brown: A Loss of Innocence in Hawthorne
At first glance, “Young Goodman Brown” depicts a pure, happy marriage almost destroyed by a close shave with witches. In its eleven pages, the first ten seem to be a preamble to the climax, when Brown narrowly escapes the occult’s clutches. Admittedly, witch references are numerous; the story takes place in Salem, and Martha Carrier, a well-known witch, is present. Goody Cloyse mentions her broomstick, and Goodman Brown flies through the woods, as if by sorcery. These signs do point to witchcraft, but this interpretation seems incomplete. For example, why are all types of people present at a meeting for witches, and why are they already there before Brown arrives? Is Hawthorne saying that everyone is a witch? Further, how did Faith get in the woods? She obviously stands for faith in God, so why is she with the witches? And why is there not a happy ending? Why is Goodman Brown not rewarded for his victory over the “black arts”? These questions point away from witchcraft as the main theme. Instead, there is more at play. The traveller that brings Brown to the ceremony is the Devil, as evidenced by his …show more content…
Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made this piece of [crepe] so awful? ... I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil! (13) Here, the minister argues that everyone has sin to hide, and we are not afraid of each other; for a black veil itself is not frightening, but we fear the hidden evil that it conceals. At the close of“Young Goodman Brown,” Brown is frightened of everybody in Salem, as if each visage were a black veil, hiding one’s ungodly soul. In the end, Hawthorne takes witches, universal representations of sin, and suggests that everyone above a certain age has their own evil inside, that everyone has a black
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