Meeting Young Goodman Brown

Para la versión en español de esta entrada, pincha en Encuentro con el  joven Goodman Brown.

To read the Spanish version of this  post, click on Encuentro con el joven Goodman Brown.

This is an activity for advanced students. It may be used as a Halloween or fall activity. The best way to employ it in class is to hand a copy of this text and test to each student. They should be given a week or so to read the text and prepare the answers to the test at home. The text can  then be discussed in class and the questions answered. Giving Spanish students a copy of the Spanish version of this activity to consult should save them research time if they cannot easily understand all the text.

Meeting Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a nineteenth century American writer  from New England. He  was descended from the only judge in the Salem Witch Trials who never repented of   his involvement. The Salem Witch Trials  (1692-93) are probably the most celebrated example of mass hysteria in North America. They are also held by some to be the events that put an end  to theocracy – government by persons held to be divinely guided - in America.  When  a few children were caught consulting a coloured fortuneteller, knowing they would be punished for it, they tried to save their skins accusing other people of witchcraft. Neighbors who held grievances against others took the opportunity to avenge themselves and persons who coveted the lands of other people also participated in the accusations with a view to obtain benefit. The fortuneteller, who was a slave, testified  falsely and won her freedom. People who had a pathological fear of what they could not control as well as those who believed it their duty to control others rose to the fore. Over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft, fourteen women and five men were hanged and one man was pressed to death. Others died in jail. Although Nathaniel remained a very ethical person, he renounced  the puritanism of his ancestors and exchanged righteousness for compassion.. Author of a great anti-Puritan classic, “The Scarlet Letter,”  his feelings about his ancestors are perhaps best exposed in the short story  “Young Goodman Brown.”

The tale of Young Goodman Brown is an allegory about the recognition of evil as the nature of humanity. Good people are more prone to see their own shortcomings than the evil in others. But once they lose their innocence, they often cannot help recognizing evil wherever they see it. Or even seeing it where it might not really exist.

Goodman’s story is as follows:

Pious Goodman Brown walks out of his home in the village of Salem at sunset,  leaving Faith, his wife of three months, alone  despite her pleas for him to remain by her side  on “this of all nights.” Though she is clearly distressed and frightened, he tells her she will be well   if she says her prayers and goes to bed early. Goodman says he has business that can only be done that night but assures her he will return at sunrise. Distrubed as she is, Faith lets him go on his way, telling him she hopes he will  find all is well when he returns. She remains behind with the pink ribbons in her cap waving in the wind as she sadly watches her husband  walk away.

Goodman, who considers Faith a blessed angel, promises himself that he will return to her after this one night, never leave her again and follow her straight to Heaven.  He quickens his pace so he can get his business done sooner and enters a formidable forest where he follows a narrow path flanked on both sides by such thick and gloomy vegetation that there is no knowing what might be lurking  behind it, be it wild beasts, angry Indians or the devil himself.  Despite his misgivings, Goodman advances until he comes upon a man who is sitting at the foot of an old tree. 

The man, who  is in his fifties, has a certain resemblance to Goodman, and they might well be taken for father and son. Despite his simple, sober clothes, the older man has the air of one who knows the world.  He carries a remarkable  staff, shaped like a great black serpent, which, in the scarce light seems to be alive. The man offers Goodman, who seems a little stressed, his staff, so he can walk more easily through the forest.

Instead of accepting the staff, Goodman says that he has kept his word and come to the forest to meet the older man there and that now that they have met he would like to return home.  The older man says they are but a little ways into the forest and must go in deeper. Goodman says he has already gone too far.  His father and his grandfather would never have gone as far. He says he is from a race of honest Christians and would be the first  Brown to have ever followed such a path and in such company.

The older man answers that he has always been very well acquainted with the Browns. He helped Goodman’s grandfather , the constable, lash a Quaker woman through the streets of Salem. He also aided Goodman’s father in burning down an Indian Village. In fact, he was such good friends with both these Browns that for their sake he would be Goodman’s too.

Goodman says he never heard speak of such a thing, and were it true, his family would have been driven out of New England. The older man replies that he is well acquainted with the people of New England too. He is friends with most of the local authorities, including the governor.  Goodman is surprised to hear  this, and says that he is a simple man who has nothing to do with high people, but would be ashamed to face his minister on the Sabbath if he were to continue along  this path. The elder man then bursts into laughter, shaking so that his staff seems to be laughing  too.  Goodman, vexed, says he will not go on for love of his wife. The older man, still laughing, says Goodman may leave if he chooses. He has no wish to hurt Faith.

 At this point, a third person appears walking  along the path. This is Goody Cloyse, an exemplary old woman who taught Goodman his cathecism when he was a child. Goodman cannot understand what this woman is doing wandering in the forest at night, but ashamed that she might see him there, he hides behind some bushes. The  old man touches Goody Cloyse on the neck with his staff. “The devil!” she cries upon seeing who it  has touched her. The older man says she has recognized her old friend and the woman begins to chat with him, saying her broomstick has disappeared and that is why she is footing it to a meeting she wishes to attend because a nice young man is to be taken into communion that night. She asks the old man to lend her his arm but he says he cannot, he can only offer her his staff. Goody and the staff then disappear.

Goodman and the older man continue walking deeprer and deeprer into the forest. The older man plucks a maple branch and fashions a walking-stick. Suddenly, Goodman collapses on the stump of a tree and refuses to go further. He wishes to return to Faith. The older man assures Goodman that he will change his mind about this, but he can rest for a while if he needs to.  He gives his new staff to Goodman and vanishes into the gloom. While Goodman congratulates himself on having put a stop to his journey, he hears the tramp of horses and then the voices of two men as they ride by. He cannot see the speakers but identifies their voices as those of his minister and of Deacon Gookin. As they jog quietly by, they mention a  young woman who will be taken into communion at a meeting they are on their way to.

Horrified, Goodman looks up to Heaven. The patch of sky above him is blue and bright with stars, but a black mass suddenly clouds it.  Goodman begins to hear the voices of his neighbours, both  those held to be good and those held to be  bad. The anguished voice of a young woman seems to be begging for a favor she fears to obtain. And the unseen multitude of seems to encourage her onward.  A pink ribbon falls from the cloud as it vanishes and hangs from the branch of a tree.

Maddened, Goodman rushes further into the heart of the dark, midst creaking trees, howling beasts and yelling Indians and his shouts are more horrible than any of these dreadful sounds. He tells himself he is unafraid, because he is the most frightening thing in the forest. Finally, he reaches a clearing in the middle of which there is a blazing rock shaped like an altar surrounded by four pines lit like candles. As a red light rises and falls, a numerous congregation appears and disappears. Those present inlude high dames, wives of honored husbands, widows and young maidens. His minister is there and so is Deacon Gookin. People of good repute stand next to those of dissolute lives. Even Indian priests are present among their palefaced enemies. All are singing a dreadful anthem.  “Where is Faith?” asks Goodman Brown. A figure of evident authority appears  and a voice shouts “Bring  forth the converts!”

 Goodman steps to the fore, thinking his father is beckoning him. A woman’s figure seems to warn him back. Goodman senses this is his mother. But before he can retreat, the minister and Deacon Gookin seize him and lead him to the altar. Goody Cloyse and another witch lead a veiled female forward. The dark figure that presides the meeting welcomes Goodman and the veiled female, promising them that they will penetrate the mystery of sin and recognize it wherever it is to be found.  He bids them look upon each other. Goodman then beholds Faith trembling before him. Evil, the fiend says, is to be their only happiness and they will be more conscious of the guilt of others than of their own. It dips its hand in a basin full of a red liquid and is about to anoint their foreheads with this.

“Faith! Faith!” cries Goodman suddenly. “Look up to Heaven and resist the Wicked One!”

Goodman was never to know if Faith obeyed him or not. He found himself suddenly  alone in the forest, hearing only the roaring of the wind.        

The next morning Goodman walked slowly into the village of Salem. Everything was just as it had always been. But when the minister greeted him, he shied away. When he saw Goody Cloyse catechising a little girl, he snatched the child away. And when he met Faith, with the pink ribbons, so happy to see he was back, he passed on without greeting her. Goodman had become a grave and sad man who trusted nobody till the day he died, for he always saw the evil in them.  Doubt had supplanted Faith in his heart.

TEST

A) All these statements are probably true. Explain why you think they are using information from the text.

1. Goodman’s wife is aptly called Faith.

2. Faith doesn’t want Goodman to leave her. She seems to be afraid he will do this permanently. Perhaps this is the thing she fears will happen on “this of all nights.”

3. For reasons unknown to us, Goodman has promised to meet a certain man in the forest at midnight.

4. The man Goodman meets looks a lot like him, but is older. Seeing  this, Goodman is reminded of his father and grandfather.

5. Goodman thinks his ancestors would never do what he is doing. But the older man says they were great friends of his and he helped them perform wicked acts. When he offers Goodman his serpent-shaped staff so he can walk more easily through the forest, he is offering Goodman his help too, making it easier for him to do wicked things.

6. Goodman says that if his ancestors had been evil, they would have been driven out of New England by the virtuous people who live there. The older man  replies he is friends with these people too, including Goodman’s minister. 

7. All Goodman can say next is that his wife is good and he wants to return to her. But before he can leave, an old woman appears advancing along the path.  

8. The old woman  recognizes the devil when she sees the older man. They appear to be excellent friends. He helps her on her way to a meeting she is eager to attend.

9. Goodman next hears two men speak about a meeting they are heading for, where a young woman will be initiated into a group they belong to.

10. A black cloud covers the sky and in the gloom Goodman hears the voices of his neighbors, both good and bad, encouraging a young woman who has doubts about asking for a favor she may have to pay dearly for.

11. Goodman suspects the young woman is Faith and goes berserk.

12. He arrives at a spot in the forest where a multitude is congregated round a sort of altar.

13. The being who presides this meeting asks for the converts to be brought forth and Goodman sees these are he himself and his wife.

14. Goodman asks Faith to renounce the devil, thus doing so himself.

15. After this night, Goodman is changed. He can no longer look upon people without seeing the bad there may be in them.

B) A good story survives in time and can be interpreted in many ways. Answer these questions about the differences between the way we see things today and the way the Puritans  and the author of this story did:

1. Has Goodman only had a nightmare that has ruined his character or is he suffering from a  mental disorder?

2. Was Goodman truly pleased with his marriage? Why is a Puritan like Faith wearing pink ribbons? Shouldn’t she be wearing dark, sober colors?  Why is Goodman meeting someone else in a hidden place at night?

3. Would the way the author writes about the Indians be politically correct today?

4. There is a theory that good exists where one tries to do good, no matter what the results. Could Goodman have done something  to overcome the gloom that had overtaken him?

5. What do you think of this story?