According to Hyatt H. Waggoner, author of a biography of
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne
continued to note in himself, and to disapprove, feelings
and attitudes he projected in . .. "Young Goodman Brown." He noted his tendency not only to study
others with cool objectivity, but to study himself with almost obsessive
interest.
The Puritan values that
inspired Hawthorne's close observation of people and events contributed to his genius as a
writer. For, his Puritan gloom determines the dark atmosphere of many of his narratives as well
as the overriding shadow of Calvinism which generates a certain pessimism about man. It is this
mixture of objectivity and Puritan gloom which creates the ambiguity that is present in "Young
Goodman Brown." Did Brown witness Faith give herself up to the devil, or did something happen
within his heart?
The setting of Hawthorne's challenging story is a
result of the tremendous historical influence of the Salem Witch Trials. Even in Hawthorne's
time, the nineteenth century, New England was yet reeling from the guilt of ancestry about such a
hysterical time period, while at the same time it rebelled against the Calvinistic morals that
were so constrictive. Goodman tells his wife he is going into the forest primeval "just this one
night" because he wishes to challenge the devil, challenge the Calvinistic belief in the
depravity of man. Yet, as the traveller in the person of the old man with the serpentine staff
hints at his recognition of the darkness of Goodman's soul, Brown claims his innocence and
goodness. Certainly, Hawthorne, whose ancestor served as a judge in the Salem Trials, examines
this dichotomy in his story with Goodman Brown as the personage who represents the conflict of
guilt and rebellion. Indubitably, art imitates life in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman
Brown."
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