Young Goodman Brown Group
Question:
What were some the morals or lessons being taught in the story, "Young Goodman Brown"?
Answers:
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eNotes Editor
Posted by gbeatty on Thursday April 17, 2008 at 5:57 PMIn "Young Goodman Brown," several lessons are taught, and, at least as important, an overarching metaphor is presented through which readers can learn their own lessons. One lesson is humility. Brown is sure that he knows what he is doing, sure that he should be the one to decide his path. As a result, he ignores the requests of his wife, symbolically named "Faith," to stay with her. Another lesson is to that there is danger to one's soul everywhere. Brown thinks he knows the paths upon which he walks, but the devil himself appears to lure him astray. That lead to the educating metaphor: the path Brown walks through the woods is like the path we all walk through life. It is dark, twisted, and filled with threats and temptations.

