Question

When Goodman Brown goes into the forest in "Young Goodman Brown," what does he learn? What does he fail to learn?

Accepted Answer

When Goodman Brown goes into the forest that night, he learns that people that he assumed were model Christians were corruptible by the Devil and sin.  The Devil starts telling Goodman Brown of the people that he was able to corrupt, and the Devil starts with characters that Brown might think could be susceptible to sin.

"I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip's war. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you for their sake."

Goodman Brown doesn't deny the old man those claims.  Brown is a bit shocked, but he is more shocked that those people didn't talk about it.

"If it be as thou sayest," replied Goodman Brown, "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."

Next, the Devil begins showing Goodman Brown that he has been able to corrupt even the most incorruptible people.  Goodman Brown is shown that the minister and Goody Cloyse have had dealings with the Devil.  Goodman Brown is shocked, but he still fiercely hangs on to the fact that his wife, Faith, is still entirely pure.  Unfortunately, Goodman Brown learns that she too has fallen to temptation and sin.  The story ends with Goodman Brown being a broken and suspicious man.  He pulls away from every person in his town, and he even shuns his own wife.  
What Goodman Brown fails to learn and understand is that every person that the Devil shows him probably isn't a full Devil worshiper.  The Devil is showing Goodman Brown people that have fallen victim to his temptation and sin at some point.  Those people still struggle with sin, but that doesn't make them Satan's soldiers.  Goodman Brown fails to understand that every person is equally susceptible to temptation, and not everybody is capable of always resisting.  Brown failed to apply his basic Christian understanding that human beings are fallen and sinful creatures that are in constant need of forgiveness from God and each other.

Answer

I think the previous contributor has already given a very strong answer to this question. In Brown's time in the woods, he gains insight into the pervasiveness of human sin. He learns that the people around him, people who he had assumed were good Christians, were in fact not quite so pure and righteous as he had previously assumed.
That being said, there are criticisms one can level about Brown, especially when viewed from within the Christian tradition. One of the most significant questions is this: why does he place so much trust in the vision to begin with? After all, to put his faith in that vision ultimately entails putting his faith in the Devil. From a Christian perspective, this is obviously a deeply problematic thing to do.
In addition, I would note that, from the very beginning of the story, Brown is portrayed as possessing a very simplistic, black-and-white view on human nature. He idolizes his wife, casting her as a paragon of goodness—referring to her as "a blessed angel on Earth"—while stating his intention to "cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven." Later on, during his journey through the forest, he runs into several esteemed members of the community (who he had assumed were good and pious Christians) entering into their own dealings with the Devil.
For all that his view on human nature has been changed by his vision in the forest, it remains an unsophisticated one, mired in his own preconceptions and expectations. In the beginning, he tends to divide the world into saints and sinners. By the end, he only sees the sinners.

Young Goodman Brown

When Goodman Brown goes into the forest in "Young Goodman Brown," what does he learn? What does he fail to learn?

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