The story of "Young Goodman Brown" is one of many intertwining themes, such as good vs. evil, morality vs. temptation, and appearance vs. reality. The use of characters as symbols and symbols such as the serpent-like staff and Faith's pink ribbon help develop these themes, while maintaining the mood of the story. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a combination of imagery and style to create a dark tone, which is suitable for a story of the triumph of evil over good. This particular analysis of the story will focus on the literary tools the author uses to further the primary theme of good vs. evil and relate this theme to the other themes in the story.
The theme of good vs. evil can be related to the characters that provide the biggest influence on the protagonist, as well as a correlating Christianity vs. Satanism theme. When Goodman Brown gets to his initial destination he remarks that he was late because "Faith kept [him] back a while […]", referring literally to his wife. Nevertheless, the deeper meaning suggests that his faith in himself and his faith in doing good is what made it hard for him to go on with this evil endeavor. Faith's nightmares foreshadow the events that will soon thereafter transpire. The beloved wife cries “A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that she's afeard of herself sometimes. Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year”, hinting to the reader that tonight is going to be an exceptional night. The third character introduced in this story is Goodman Brown's snake-like staff-bearing fellow traveller. This character can be perceived as the total opposite of Goodman's wife, with the two characters representing the opposite ends of the moral spectrum. The use of a black snake in this situation can be paralleled to the story of Eve, the snake, and the forbidden fruit. The author mentions that the fellow traveller seemed like he knew the world. It is said that the forbidden fruit in the biblical story represents knowledge, which breeds evil through curiosity. While he acts as a part of Goodman's conscience, the old fellow traveller also furthers the story line. The intention here is to use the characters in this story as a microcosm of the inner battle human kind faces and the author executes this very well.
