Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story about the loss of innocence and faith in mankind. The main character is Goodman Brown, whose name suggests a certain steady innocence or even naiveté. The story begins when Goodman Brown leaves his known world in Salem village and travels an unknown road in a dark forest in the middle of the night. He must decide if he will follow his journey to the end, eventually learning the truth about himself and others, or turn back and continue to live in blissful ignorance. The story outlines Goodman Brown's experiences both physical and psychological throughout his journey and shows how he discovers that humans are truly evil by nature; therefore, altering his views of the people he lives amongst and life itself.
In the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is faced with a decision to stay home with his wife, Faith, or to take off in the nigh on his journey. This is symbolic of his inner psychological decision to leave behind all that he knew to be true up until that point and discover the real truth no matter how harsh it may be. Faith, whose name is symbolic of the faith that Goodman has in the general goodness of people, is urging him to stay with her instead of leaving that night. She almost convinces Brown to stay, but his desire to discover himself overpowers his desire to stay with her. The struggle going on inside of Goodman Brown's head is really between remaining innocent and having blind faith in what he knows of the nature of man or embarking on the journey to discover the truth. When Faith finally lets him go and says, "Then God bless you! and may you find all well when you come back."" the reader gets a sense that there is a possibility that Goodman Brown will be faced with a challenge that could cause a dramatic change in his life.
When Goodman Brown leaves Salem village and enters the forest he is confronted with challenges that he may not be prepared to face.
