Young Goodman Brown: Literary Analysis

Everything Brown witnessed was conjured by evil because when he found himself standing alone in the forest after almost witnessing the sacrifice of his wife, Faith, there were signs that showed this was not just a dream. “He staggered against a rock and felt it chill and damp, while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew” (pg. 460). If we take a look back to when he walked up to a dark wall of the forest, he saw a rock that resembled to a pulpit or altar and had four blazing pines, where light was blazing high into the night (pg. 458). The first example given backs up the evidence that Brown did not imagine nor dreamt this experience because he remembers seeing the rock and the pines that were on fire, which are shown in the second example. After Brown experienced this living nightmare, it opened his eyes and began to see the evil in everything and everyone. When the Old Deacon Goodkin worshiped at home and his prayer was heard through his window, Brown thought to himself, “What God doth the wizard pray to?” (pg. 460). And when he saw Goody Cloyse catechizing a little girl, he quickly snatched the little girl away from Goody for the child’s safety (pg. 460). These examples go off of show that whatever Brown experienced still seemed very real to him and not only made him loose his faith in people, but also made him see the world in a different perspective.