Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story about a young husband and wife and the journey that the husband (Goodman Brown) takes one night. He takes a walk through the woods, but this is no ordinary stroll through the woods this is a eye opening experience that will change the rest of Goodman's life. Young Goodman Brown changes from the exposition, through the climax, and into the denouement. Hawthorne uses symbolism, settings, and irony to define his complex character in all three parts of "Young Goodman Brown" this paper will analysis all the aspects that make Young Goodman Brown change through out the short story "Young Goodman Brown".
The exposition occurs at the beginning of a story or the first paragraph, this is where the author reveals the protagonist. The protagonist is Goodman Brown, a man trying to find his way through life. He makes a journey through the woods with an elderly man who is the antagonist. The journey is symbolic to the path that everyone must choose in life. This is evident when Goodman is at home he knows who he is and what kind of man he wants to be, but when he leaves the shelter of his home and family, he seems to struggle with decisions he must make in the forest with the older man. The older man is a symbol for evil, the older man tries to push Goodman to decipher between good and evil. Too the elder man attempts to persuade Goodman to follow the dark side where the trouble begins. .
The rising action and climax are where all the events lead; they are the point of the story where troubles meet their peak. The climax begins when Goodman Brown enters with The Devil as they go walking. While traveling down the path of despair, Goodman is shocked by the devil telling Goodman that his ancestors were religious bigots, cruel exploiters, and believers in the black art, basically, full-fledged servants to the devil. This weighs on Goodman's mind he had never thought of his ancestor but with respect.