Young Goodman Brown Essay

             As people get older they begin caring about what other people think about them. A child will wear two different shoes and his or her shirt inside out without a care in the world, but eventually they are taught that they need to dress a certain way and behave a certain way in public. They are taught standards, and administered punishment if they don’t meet these standards. As people grow up they must conform to these standards outwardly while they inwardly question why they have to be quiet and wear two shoes that are the same color. We are taught that we must do what everybody else is doing, because what everyone else is doing is right, and this carries on throughout our lives changing who we are and what our instincts to do are. Young Goodman Brown struggles with outward conformity and inward questioning in a parallel way. In the story he watches the entire town participate in a devil worshiping ritual. Everything he ever knew as good in the world was being tarnished in front of him. Every standard he had ever been taught was ripped from him, and he struggled between going with the crowd and sticking to what he knew.

            In Puritan societies of the early development of New England, children are taught god is good, and that the only thing they have to worry about in life is worshipping god and staying away from the devil. Goodman Brown was taught this. From his beginnings he outwardly conformed to worship god the Puritan way. If he showed any inward questioning he would be deemed devil worshipped and killed. His morals and beliefs were what he was taught as a child: god.

            When it came to the night in the forest, Goodman Brown’s beliefs were put into question. He felt the pressure to conform as he watched everyone including his symbolically named wife Faith, participate in a devil worshipping ceremony. Goodman Brown’s God fearing instincts and his love for Faith allow him to question what he is seeing and not initially go with the crowd. However after seeing even his Faith be tainted by the devil he gives in because the truest thing held to him, his beliefs, were tarnished.

            If we are stripped of what we hold to be true, stripped of the foundation of our very being, our ability to question, we are left with nothing but out ward conformity. Goodman Brown’s struggle with outward conformity and inward questioning is a good demonstration of humanity. Take away who you are on a personal level, and you are left with nothing but the chaos around you.