Nathaniel Hawthorne was a descendant of Puritan immigrants who dedicated his life to writing. It was through his short story "Young Goodman Brown" that Hawthorne uses it to explain Young Goodman Brown's excessive pride. This excessive pride interferes with the relationship of his wife Faith and the community, which ultimately causes Young Goodman Brown's downfall.
"Young Goodman Brown" sets up his journey that his wife asks him to "pr"y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in his own bed to-night" (Hawthorne 614). However, Goodman Brown tells Faith "of all nights in the year, this one night must tarry away from thee" (614). The first sign of excessive pride is when Goodman Brown leaves his loving wife and goes on the journey that he does not know what to expect when he told her he would "cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven" . Goodman Brown let his wife down because of his journey. This journey led him directly to the Devil who was the first person Goodman Brown met. Goodman Brown did not know this man was the Devil, therefore, he followed his every lead. The Devil leads Goodman Brown down a "dreary road" that made Goodman Brown skeptical. Goodman Brown was afraid a devilish Indian would be in the woods when all along the Devil was walking beside of him. Goodman Brown did not know this because he was so curious to see everything the journey had in store for him. However, the Devils journey was already working because Goodman Brown had left his newlywed wife to go with the Devil. Ironically, the Devil knew Goodman Brown was going on the journey because he showed up fifteen minutes late and brought it to his attention. Then, Goodman Brown lied on Faith and said she kept him back awhile (614). However, Faith physically kept him from being on time for his meeting with the Devil, but it was his faith in God that psychologically delayed his meeting. .
On the other hand, Goodman Brown should have known something was wrong when the Devil greeted him with a snakelike staff.