First,watch the film 12 Angry Men. The film is freely available online For this discussion you have a choice: 1) Please discuss the theme of good versus evil in Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Good

Lecture on Nathaniel Hawthorne—Dr. Hugo Walter

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is considered to be one of America’s greatest writers. Hawthorne wrote numerous short stories and tales as well as several novels. His most famous collections of short stories and tales are entitled Twice-Told Tales (1837, 1842, 1851), Mosses from an Old Manse (1846, 1854), and The Snow-Image (1852). His most famous novels are The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), and The Blithedale Romance (1852).

“Young Goodman Brown” (1835) is one of Hawthorne’s greatest stories. At the beginning of the story Young Goodman Brown is talking with Faith about the journey which he is about to take. Both of these names are very symbolic. “Goodman” does imply that this individual is a good and positive character. “Faith” can often be interpreted in the story as Goodman Brown’s wife or his religious faith. Faith is very concerned that Goodman Brown has to undertake this journey at night. The traveler whom Goodman Brown meets in the forest could be interpreted as the devil. When a character is connected to or associated with an image of a snake, as this traveler is (he carries a staff which bears “the likeness of a great black snake”), he is usually associated with evil.

The traveler, or the devil, tries to persuade Goodman Brown that he had contact with his family members in the past. The devil even claims that he has a close association with prominent religious and secular members of the community. As Goodman Brown follows the devil deeper into the forest, he encounters Goody Cloyse, his former catechism teacher, as well as the minister and Deacon Gookin. It is noteworthy that Goodman Brown does not actually see the minister and the deacon. It is a very dark night so it is not absolutely certain that these individuals are actually the minister and the deacon—however, Goodman Brown believes that he recognizes their voices. This is an important theme in the story—the theme of ambiguity or uncertainty. Another example of this theme of uncertainty is on the second page of the story when the staff of the devil seemed “to twist and wriggle itself like a living serpent.” In the next sentence Hawthorne says that this might just have been an “ocular deception.” In other words, there is no absolute certainty that the staff actually did twist and wriggle. The eye might have been deceived into observing or thinking that the staff did twist and wriggle.

As Goodman Brown proceeds further into the dark forest, he seems to challenge and to test his faith more deeply. When he encounters a pink ribbon, he is terribly discouraged and exclaims that his faith is gone. Faith was wearing pink ribbons at the beginning of the story. Goodman Brown’s discovery of the pink ribbon in the middle of the forest implies that Faith was actually there, attending the communion ceremony of the devil. Goodman Brown observes the communion ceremony of the devil and listens to the very pessimistic statements which the devil makes about humankind. For example, the dark figure proclaims at one point that “Evil is the nature of mankind.” At a crucial moment in the ceremony Goodman Brown exhorts his wife to look up to Heaven and to resist the devil. It is not really clear to Goodman Brown whether Faith did follow his advice.

When Goodman Brown returns to Salem village the next morning he is a changed individual. Not only does he tried to avoid any contact with the minister and Goody Cloyse, but he even responds to the greeting of Faith with melancholy indifference and doubt. One interesting question to consider is whether Goodman Brown actually experiences directly this adventure in the forest or whether he just dreams about it. The presence of the pink ribbon in the forest might suggest that this experience is more reality than dream.

One might interpret this story as a conflict between God and the Devil for the soul of Goodman Brown. Such a conflict occurs in various other literary works of the Western tradition, including such famous works as “Faust.” There are different ways to interpret the ending. Because Goodman Brown no longer has a genuine trust and belief in the holiness and sanctity of the religious leaders of the community and because he often avoids his wife, Faith, one might say that Goodman Brown has lost his faith. However, one might also claim that Goodman Brown has preserved his faith despite or even because of his experience in the forest. An important piece of evidence from the story supporting this viewpoint is the fact that Goodman Brown does remain married to Faith. This could symbolize that Goodman Brown has maintained his religious faith, though perhaps not in the same form as at the beginning of the story. Although he could be said to have preserved his faith, Goodman Brown’s faith does seem to be more mechanical and less vital at the end of the story. The ending of the story is very sad and melancholy. For when Goodman Brown died, “they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom.” Hawthorne is suggesting that Goodman Brown gained insight into the human condition in his experience (whether reality or dream) in the forest. He realizes that various aspects of life are not necessarily what they seem to be (or that various individuals are not really who they seem to be).