Almost everything negative in the world is considered evil. Some might consider the source of evil coming directly from the distorter, also known as the devil. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young Goodman Brown," a Christian named Goodman Brown attempts to meet the devil by taking a trip into forest during the night. To not worry his wife, Faith, he tells her that he is only running an errand and that he will be back by morning. Goodman Brown experiences life-changing events just in the matter of hours. He could never be the same person again as he was no longer able to trust others, including his wife Faith who he once loved.
Hawthorne's story, "Young Goodman Brown," starts off with the protagonist Young Goodman Brown saying goodbye to his wife on the street in Salem Village outside their home. The village of Salem represents evil since it was a colonial town in American History, which was famous for its witch trials. Hence, Hawthorne purposely named the village after the colonial town Salem to convey the importance of evil in the story. Hawthorne also chose the main characters name 'Young Goodman Brown', to symbolize the purity of young, good, men who are lured to give in into the evil world, an example of this is Young Goodman Brown trying to resist evil. Goodman Brown's wife's name 'Faith' symbolizes Christian faith, which means she is protected by God and no harm can come to her. During the beginning of the story, the imagery is strong; especially with the sunset in the background and the wind blowing against Faith's pink ribbon, which is attached to her cap. The pink ribbon that Faith has on her cap represents her purity. The ribbon is pink because pink represents innocence and happiness. Hawthorne mentions Faith's pink ribbon several times at the beginning of the story, connecting Faith's character with youthfulness and contentment. Faith pleads Goodman Brown to go on his errand during daylight instead of going during the night but he replies, "[This] journey, as thou callest it, forth and back again, must needs be done 'twixt now and sunrise,'" (Hawthorne 140).
