| Young Goodman Brown |
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| 1835 short stories | |
| american short stories | |
| short stories by nathaniel hawthorne | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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SUMMARY This short story takes place in Salem , Massachusetts , New England during the Puritan ical Witch paranoia of the 17th Century . The main character, Goodman Brown, departs from home and from his wife, Faith, late in the evening to meet with a grim figure deep in the woods. Upon meeting this person, there are many indications that this forbidding figure may in fact be the Devil , who proceeds to goad Goodman Brown further into the dark forest to witness a demonic, frenzied ritual attended by Salem's supposedly "good" Christian townsfolk. It is later implied that the entire experience was simply a Dream / Nightmare , though Goodman Brown seems to endure a psychological scar consistent with the story's theme of retribution for any contact with The Devil or his works. Afterwards, Brown lives out his days as an embittered and suspicious cynic, deeply wary of all people around him, especially his wife Faith. One possible moral of the story pertains not so much to Young Goodman Brown's encounter with "evil" but rather to the way he personally deals with his experience/dream. Another interpretation is that the dream/experience is a Metaphor for religious disillusionment (i.e. "loss of faith"). SEE ALSO
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