Young Goodman Brown

The second short story we studied last Thursday night was Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This story deserved a full evening (well, actually, they all did!), so we hardly scratched the surface. But this is classic Hawthorne - a story in his "dark Romantic" tradition, revealing the sin and evil inherent in humanity. Young Goodman Brown is a Puritan, a resident of Salem, MA, who sets out one evening into the wild woods around Salem for an unspecified evil purpose. His new wife, Faith, does not want him to go, but he is determined to go. Well into the woods, he meets someone, unidentified, but an older man who carries a unique walking stick which is like a writhing snake. The older companion reminds Goodman Brown that he had known his grandfather when he had lashed a Quaker woman, and had helped his father burn down an Indian village during King Philip's War. Goodman Brown again and again says he is going to go back. He is having doubts about his intentions, and his companion (who we increasingly feel might be the devil in disguise), does not deter him, but something always stops him from returning home. He doesn't want to dishonor the old woman who taught him his catechism, but then, there she is ahead of him in the path! He hangs back, but his companion walks with Goody Cloyse, and we learn that she is actually a witch. Later, Goodman Brown, in hiding, sees his beloved minister in Salem and Deacon Gookin walking and talking, heading for the same gathering he is headed for. He is dismayed to learn this, but still does not want to disapppoint his dear wife, Faith. But when he finally arrives at the gathering, there is Faith too! It is a gathering called by the devil, a society of devil-worshippers, luridly lit by burning pine trees, and everyone he had respected for their uprightness is there! They are all hypocrites! Goodman Brown goes home a changed man. The reader is left unsure whether the whole thing might actually have been a dream- a nightmare - but in any case, Goodman Brown becomes a bitter, disillusioned man, unable to relate to people he had loved before, and he goes to his grave a gloomy cynic. That's pretty condensed, but you get the drift. It must have been a pretty controversial story when it was first published, implying that the leaders of the Salem Church were all evil hypocrites! I guess Hawthorne didn't go to church there! I associate Hawthorne with an English Professor I knew at Brown University when I was a graduate student there - Hyatt Waggoner - who was a Hawthorne specialist. By coincidence, we know his daughter, Jane, who lives in Brattleboro right next door to Andy and Robin Davis! Hawthorne is someone I wish I knew better. I have read The Scarlet Letter, and some other stories, but would like to read more.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) ******************************************************** I am currently at the Guilford Church. Ellen is here for her knitting group. It is a beautiful fall day. Yesterday we went to church on Zoom - it was held at the West Dover Church, but I stayed at home because there was a Keuka Memorial Service at 9:30a.m. that I wanted to attend. That way I was able to do both. Tomorrow will be the third singing session with Mary Cay - we missed last week - and it will be chilly! Dress warmly!