Young Goodman Brown's Lesson on Good and Evil
Young Goodman Brown struggled to comprehend how his old teacher Goody Cloyse, a catechist, could practice evil worship. The elderly lady was viewed as a religious, upright, role model, and good person. She is revealed to be a witch who worships the demon, though. The young guy was implying that tradition, religion, and society can all be very evil. People who are supposedly good and pious often turn out to be quite evil and destructive to their communities. In religious people, corruption and evil are pervasive, making it very difficult to put your confidence in anyone. The young man learned from the acts of the old woman that no one is trustworthy and one's appearance may not depict the real character of a person.
Meaning and Symbolism
2 a. The secondary meaning of Goodman reveals the fall of man and the dark side of the society that religion does not explain. Goodman accepts to go to the forest yet he is aware of the happenings indicating evil. He reveals the corruptible nature of faithful puritas.
b. Faith symbolizes hypocrisy since she wears pink ribbons to hide her evil doings. The color is associated with innocence yet Faith is not innocent since she joins the devil's community.
c. Old Scratch is a name that represents the devil in the story.
d. Goody Cloyse represents pretenders in the society who tend to be of good character and morals but engage in evil deeds during the night. During the day, Goody Cloyse is religious and teaches children religious values, but at night he joins the rest in the evil forest.
e. Deacon Gookin represents corrupt religious leaders who do not follow the word they teach but behave contrary to it. They will always tell their followers to refuse the devils temptation yet they engage in evil acts instead of condemning them.
