"Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne's story “Young Goodman Brown” portrays the growth of young Goodman Brown through a vividly symbolic setting. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory where the setting is very important to the theme of the story. Throughout the narrative, detailed settings and iconic characters surround Goodman Brown. Goodman Brown is an Everyman character, who could be any of us, grappling with his Puritan heritage, more specifically his spiritual faith. The setting is first introduced during a conversation between Goodman and his wife "Faith", symbolizing his struggle with his spiritual faith throughout the story. On the doorstep he turns to face his wife, who encourages him to stay home with her, the first expression in the story of his internal conflict with his "faith". Moving away from his wife, he begins to question himself in different ways. Why is he leaving? What do you want? Where exactly is he going? ““Poor little Faith!” He thought, because his heart struck him. “What a wretch am I to leave her with such an errand!”” (391) Without knowing the exact answer to any of the questions, he enters the woods, dark and gloomy, which Hawthorne uses to express the sense of evil. To understand the meaning of the setting it is necessary to understand the background of Puritan culture which Hawthorne does not state but expects the reader to know. Puritans live their lives for God. They believe that everything and everyone is evil and that one must live their life so as not to unleash this innate sin. Throughout the story, Goodman struggles with his own image of faith. Just as any young adult can take a step back and question their early upbringing, they too question their ancestry. They don't want to become what they were, is the common feeling among the younger generations. Brown could be any of us who as we mature begin to discover flaws in our families and acquaintances that we knew didn't exist. Continuing along his path in the woods he meets a man "in serious and dignified clothes". The word “tomb” suggests the danger and gravity of the journey. The author soon convinces us that this man represents the devil in Goodman's struggle with his beliefs. The man is willing to lead Goodman deep into the forest, or in other words, deep into sin. The man even addresses Brown by telling him...... middle of paper...... himself from previous generations; he cannot completely separate himself from his parents' faith and culture without losing his own identity. Hawthorne displays a vivid setting in “Young Goodman Brown” to help him deal with insecurities regarding not only his character but also his ancestry and his own faith. The setting of “Young Goodman Brown” is crucial to understanding the main character's internal struggle for maturation. From “Faith”, his wife, to his journey through dark and lonely woods but populated by demons, supernatural events, Hawthorne takes his readers on an adventure full of symbolic settings. To fully appreciate and understand “Young Goodman Brown” it is necessary to recognize and extract the expression of allegory that Hawthorne uses to satisfy curiosity in young maturing minds. Goodman Brown could be any of us, grappling with the inconsistencies of our lives and the unknown journeys we will venture to take as we try to form our self-identities and mature into functioning adults in our society. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodmam Brown,” The Story and Its Writer, 4th ed. Ed. Anna Charter. Boston: