Symbolism in Young Goodman Brown
In Young Goodman Brown, a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author uses symbols that, on the surface, represent well-known, conventional imageries depicting the contrasting sides of good and evil. Against the backdrop of seventeenth century Salem, it narrates the journey begun at dusk by a young man, married but three months earlier to pretty Faith, to join the midnight congregation of devil worshippers in the woods. On the way he comes across people whom he had always believed to be upright and holy, like the minister and Goody Cloyse, but who are in fact in league with the devil. He wavers at the outset but plunges on upon seeing his wife’s pink ribbon fluttering through the trees, until he arrives at the unholy altar. He strives to resist and urges Faith to do so when the communion begins, and wakes up the following morning not knowing if he had dreamed or not, but his faith is destroyed by the experience and he lives in distrust and misery to the end of his days. The names and symbols used by Hawthorne suggest that he had intended this tale as a satire on the religious life of the faithful in Salem.
The name of the main character, Young Goodman Brown, like that of his father, Old Goodman Brown, is mere label. The son is informed by his mysterious guide that his father had “set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip’s War.” He is also told that his grandfather lashed “the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem”, perhaps for being condemned as a witch. Is Hawthorne suggesting that no one is really good, after all? Young Goodman Brown himself appears to be a “good” man, coming from a supposedly “good” family. And yet he deigns to join the fiendish congregation in the forest against his better judgment, leaving his wife behind. By using the name “Goodman” and exposing the persons by which they are called as the very opposite of its meaning, the author in effect tells us not to take appearances at their face value, in the same manner that Jesus told His disciples to be wary of “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” It bears allusion to the rebuke heaped by Jesus Christ on the religious hypocrites of his day who walked around in long robes and preached righteousness but inwardly were “whited sepulchres” (Matt. 23.27).
The setting of the story, typical of Hawthorne, serves to create an atmosphere of gloom, foreboding, despair. Young Goodman Brown takes the road “darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest.” He is emboldened perhaps by the excitement of being at the communion as a young person is overcome by curiosity that ultimately leads to temptation and sin. Hawthorne uses this conventional symbol to illustrate that the journey is of an unholy nature. That the young man travels in darkness instead of light means he is up to no good purpose. Also, one is apt to regard this symbol as an allusion to the two alternative roads for a believer: one that is narrow and less travelled, but leads to eternal life, and the other which is wide, used by more travellers, but leads to hell (Mat.7.13-14). When Young Goodman Brown, upon knowing that all the persons whom he had always believed “good” are going to attend the communion in the forest, decides to completely abandon his faith, the road he travels actually becomes the latter – the road that leads to perdition.
His guide – an image of his father – holds a staff “which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought, that it might almost be seen to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent.” As suggested, Hawthorne casts the devil in the form of a “good” man holding a serpentine staff. Moses used a bronze serpent coiled around a staff to cure the Israelites bitten by snakes in the wilderness (Num.21.4-9). Used by Moses to cleave the waters of the Red Sea, and used by the Pope, the staff symbolizes religious authority. Hawthorne seems to suggest that people should be wary of whoever wields that authority.
The altar built from rock, surrounded by four burning pines like giant candles, with the basin that contains blood and the fire that illumined the congregation symbolizes religious worship. But Hawthorne pictures it as the antithesis of holiness as blood taken from a hollow in the rock is used to baptize converts to the unholy communion.
The devil finally appears like a reverend church figure: “with reverence be it spoken, the figure bore no slight similitude, both in garb and manner, to some grave divine of the New England churches.” Sinners, both known and in secret, comprise the multitude that gather to receive his blessing : young girls who had buried their infants in some nameless grave, members of the clergy who have seduced innocent maids, wives poisoning their husbands, children doing away with their fathers to inherit their wealth. Hawthorne focuses more on the secret sinners, i.e., hypocrites, which his story is meant to condemn.
Faith, the young pretty wife, appears to be the only thing that has kept Young Goodman Brown from totally surrendering himself to the devil. He resolves that after that night he would “cling to [Faith’s] skirts and follow her to heaven.” A pink ribbon may be a pretty and attractive symbol of faith, as Faith herself is, but it is a fragile thing to cling to, as Young Goodman Brown finds out later: he loses his resolve upon seeing his wife’s pink ribbon fluttering through the trees. In this case, Hawthorne exposes the faith of most men as flimsy, hollow, fleeting and useless in the face of temptation. He shows that faith is not actually faith in God, but faith in the perceived holiness of others. Young Goodman Brown, shocked to find that all the supposedly righteous persons he had known since childhood, including Deacon Gookin, the pious woman Goody Cloyse who had taught him catechism, and the minister himself consorted with the devil. Rather than rely on God Himself, Young Goodman Brown has lodged his faith on his fellow humans. When this faith crumbles, he is left with nothing to guide his soul and loses it in the end.
The author’s harsh portrayal of outwardly righteous men and women as pretenders who secretly indulged in sin may have been due to the notoriety inflicted on the family name by his grandfather, John Hathorne, a magistrate who presided in the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 and caused the execution of at least twenty persons and incarceration of hundreds more for alleged witchcraft. So great must have been the shame and remorse brought by this unfortunate chapter in the history of America that Nathaniel changed his family name, adding a “w”. Perhaps Hawthorne wrote this story to expiate the guilt attached to the family name by showing that all persons are inwardly sinners, that, as Christ Himself taught, one must not judge others lest he also be judged (Mat.7.1).
The story ends on a tragic note, at least for Young Goodman Brown who found no peace of mind since that fateful gathering. Does the story, then, confirm the devil’s pronouncement that “evil is the nature of mankind” and that it “must be your only happiness?” It is submitted that it does not. Despite its sombre mood, the story exhorts the believer to cling to true faith, which is towards God Himself, not anchored on the perceived holiness of others. It teaches us to trust in our own good judgment, to heed the voice of our conscience lest we succumb to temptation. Yung Goodman Brown allowed himself to be seduced by the novelty of the experience in the woods and recovers too late.
In fine, Young Goodman Brown is replete with symbols that depict the timeless struggle between good and evil. It seeks to explore the dark recesses of the human heart, unmasking pretenders and hypocrites. Hawthorne in effect tells us not to rely on the piety or righteousness of others. It warns the unwary not to tempt his fate lest he fall.