Although his faith, described with "pink ribbon" is sincere, pure, and innocent, is his will strong enough to walk through a "dreary road, darkened by all the gloomiest trees of the forest"(165)?.
Upon entering the forest, Goodman Brown is suspicious of every rock and tree, constantly thinking that something may jump out at him. Goodman comes across a man seated at the foot of an old tree. The man stands and walks onward side by side with Goodman. Goodman tells the man that he is late only because Faith kept him back awhile. At this point in the story, Goodman is still living in his world of illusions. Goodman states that they have walked too far into the forest and that his father "never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians-(165). Goodman prides himself by telling this to the traveler who can also be seen as a symbol of evil or the devil. To this, the other man replies that he helped Goodman's grandfather, the constable, when he beat a Quaker woman, and that he gave Goodman's father a torch to set an Indian village on fire. This is the first instance when Goodman hears of such a thing. Goodman shrugs off the comment but in his heart and in his mind he begins to wonder. He says, "I marvel they never spoke of these matters. Or verily, I marvel not, seeing that the least rumor of the sort would have driven them from New England. We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness."(166). Brown knew only what he chose to see and believe. He knew the reality he created within himself. Hawthorne has Goodman look at his ancestors and soon allows the reader to realize that not only is the past corrupt, but those that surround the present as well. Goodman's journey is taking him farther and farther away from the safety of reality and into the wilderness where bad things can happen.
