Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" relates to us the message that you can never be too sure about what is going on around you. Towards the end of the story the evil figure says, "Evil is the nature of mankind" (Hawthorne 546). This statement scared Goodman Brown and made him feel uneasy, but it is a truthful statement. Many people do evil things, possibly without even realizing it. A person would be extremely hypocritical to say they never have committed an evil or bad act or that people did not do these things all the time. Hypocrisy is a central focus of this story. Goodman Brown finds the most influential people in his life are all a part of this cult that promotes evil. This goes back to the notion you are never really certain about anyone. He looked so highly upon his wife Faith and then looked at her with disgust for being a part of the evil cult. Goodman Brown at the end of the story is just as big as a hypocrite as the rest of the people in Salem. He looks so poorly on the people in his town, but yet he remains there for the rest of his life. He also stays with Faith and has children with her. If Goodman Brown was so against this way of thinking then why did he spend his life in that society with a woman who was a part of it? Faith's name is also something I must comment on. To have faith in something is to have confidence in it, regardless of substantial proof. This is yet another hypocritical element to Hawthorne's story because Faith's own husband has no faith in her. The last time Goodman Brown had faith was with his "parting kiss" to his wife (539).