Is it Just a Dream?

The short story, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathanial Hawthorne, can be seen either as a dream, a figment of Brown’s imagination, and something that is being conjured by evil depending on each reader. However, I feel like Brown’s experience in the forest is a dream that is being conjured by evil, and there are several examples in the text that serve as evidence. One example that shows this is a dream is when Brown hardly speaks then suddenly finds himself alone in the calm night (460). As I read this section of the story, I automatically assume that everything Brown is experiencing in the forest is just a bad dream. Then as I continue to read, I come across a section towards the end of the story that asks, “Had Goodman Brown Fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting? Be it so, if you will” (460). This throws me off a little and leaves me second-guessing, which is why I now ask myself, is this just a dream or is this also being conjured by evil? So, I go back to his dream where he sees a rock that resembles a pulpit on fire along with four pines and twigs, these are the exact things he sees when he wakes up, only this time they are cold and damp (458). This leads me to believe that the evil is conjuring Brown’s surroundings into his dream to make it seem as real as possible for him.