Young Goodman Brown Essay

Goodman was deceived by the appearances of those around him and even though I am saying this he wasn't the only one, it took me a while to realize what was going on and to this point I'm still not sure if I read/interpreted the story well enough. Yet the story brought out a really good point; which is that all humans have a dark side to themselves and although we try to prevent that side from making an appearance it causes problems and even destruction within us or to those we love. I feel that everyone tries to accommodate or at least make themselves seem really good or at least present themselves as best as they could, so would it mean “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” Personally I have asked myself if that dark side of myself is truly me and even though I don't want to admit it, it is a part of me that I still try to improve on it but it's only an extension of who I am, they're my imperfections.

We have a tendency to put those that we admire or believe to be amazing on pedestals we always compare ourselves to one another and become blind to what can be right in front of us. I felt that Goodman Brown had too high of regard for these people that the shock of seeing them do such evil turned his whole world around and practically made him question everything in his world. Even waking up the next morning and not knowing if it were a dream or not brought him into further madness. Probably because while he tried to put together his thoughts he realized or at least believed that he was the one to sin for after that night he was "a stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man."

He was unsure on how to react after that because he felt his community was lieing to him about who they were, it's practically like waking up one day and realizing that your family isn't your family. Everything was different form then on and he no longer seemed to trust, "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom."