Question

What effect does this experience have upon the rest of Young Goodman Brown's life?

Accepted Answer

Young Goodman Brown is completely changed by what he sees in the forest. Whether it was real or a dream, he can never look at any of his neighbors -- or even his wife -- the same way again. Because, even though he appeals to God at the last moment, and is saved from the witches baptism of blood at the last moment, he comes to suspect that it is indeed the case that everyone around him is secretly a witch and a devil worshipper. The day after his trip to the forest, he comes into Salem "staring around him like a bewildered man." Even though everything seems normal, Goodman Brown knows now that things are not what they seem. When he sees Goody Cloyse catechizing a young girl, he "snatched away the child as from the grasp of the fiend himself." When he hears Deacon Gookin at prayer, he wonders aloud "what God doth the wizard pray to?" In short, the experience, dream or not, turns Goodman Brown into a "sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man."

Young Goodman Brown

What effect does this experience have upon the rest of Young Goodman Brown's life?

Expert Answers

Unlock This Answer Now

Related Questions

What's the theme of "Young Goodman Brown"?

What does Goodman Brown expect the rest of his life to be like in Young Goodman Brown?

What does the young Goodman Brown experience in the forest primeval in "Young Goodman Brown"?

What does Faith symbolize in "Young Goodman Brown"?

Does Goodman Brown's cry "My faith is gone!" in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" have a double meaning?