We deal with evil and innocence daily. We are not without sin, nor do we expect ourselves or others to be. We accept this to be true, and we deal with this fact, as best we know how. Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" is one of lost innocence and the inability to face the reality of human nature. The Calvanistic teachings of Brown's era were much to blame for many of his problems. Civil order and religion, the twin pillars of Brown's society, did little to support him, and maybe even increased his festering skepticism. The pessimistic nature of our present society makes us visibly better off.
             "Young Goodman Brown" is the story of a young adult Puritan man who makes the decision to explore the world of the unrighteous. Curiosity and the excitement of the forbidden and the unknown lure Brown like a small child into the forest to attend a "baptism" – a meeting of other worshipers of evil who plan to induct a new member into their sect. Brown is torn between what he has been taught his entire life to be "right" and "good," and his instinctive craving to taste forbidden fruit. As such, Brown allows himself to be drawn deeper and deeper into the forest, and thus, farther away from the safety of his home, family and community. Once he has made the journey, Brown finds that he cannot return. He makes a feeble attempt to "look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one"(89) to avoid evil. When he does so, he awakens in his home and is unable to distinguish between whether the journey was real or only a dream. As such, he spends the rest of his life suspicious of everyone, including his wife and children. Brown dies a bitter, lonely man.
             Calvinism, the religion of Goodman Brown's time, might have been partially to blame for the collapse of Brown's faith in people. However, had Brown been true to his teachings, he would not ...