"Young Goodman Brown" Literary Element 1

The entirety of “Young Goodman Brown” alludes to a spiritual battle within every person. Through the classic use of “dark" and “light” highlights the contrast between good versus evil, and even the ambiguity, the “grey area” if you will, between the two.

 Firstly, the name of Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, alludes to the religious/spiritual undertones of the story. Brown’s closeness to his wife translates to an assumed strong faith that he has. But when Goodman Brown gives into curiosity and temptation, he departs on a nighttime journey into the deceptive forest, his faith, and will, is tested by evil. As he departs, and gives into the evil temptation he mistakenly says to Faith, “no harm will come to thee.” It is at that point that he, for once and for all, leaves the lightness of his wife’s love and into the “dreary road, darkened by… the gloomiest trees of the forest,” therefore leaving his spiritual faith indefinitely. In fact, when met by the first embodiment of evil temptation in the forest, Goodman Brown states that he was “kept back a while by faith,” meaning his pure spirituality kept him from consenting to corruption (going into the forest).As Goodman Brown goes further into the forest and further and further away from his faith, it gets increasingly harder for him to turn down temptations from other travelers.

Through analyses of “Young Goodman Brown” one is assured to stay true to themselves and their beliefs, thus straying away from those who tempt evil in everyday life, and sticking to one’s own faith.