Free Essays - A Psychological Analysis of Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown :: Young Goodman Brown YGB

My first thought when I read the story is that theres a psychological aspect to this. This aspect comes to life when brownness begins to accept the reality that he seems to repress. Which reality is this? As imperfect humans, weve occasionally used poor judgment on issues in our everyday lives, but what is closely important is how we lie with with these experiences that will become forever frozen in our minds. I feel that this is the major cause of anguish for Brown. When you look at his edict and the beliefs of the townspeople, one can understand how Browns conscience can be very overbearing. So overbearing that it causes him to have delusions concerning the welfare of his soul. I believe it is a romance or nightmare for Brown, one that he will never be able to deal with. One wonders how Browns townsfolk deal with their underworlds. Do they repress them or just keep them hid from others? Through time, Brown learns he is not alone when it comes to dealing with good and evil. I snt he just dealing with good? Or is it the fraternity between good and evil that bugs him? His own wife, Faith, is bothered with symptoms a lone woman is troubled with such dreams. Brown mentions, She talks of dreams, too, which is a somewhat tranquilize statement for him. This seems to confirm the notion that his journey is a fabrication of his unconscious (a dream) and that his wife has similar problems. Its quite ironic that her name is Faith, which seems to be the very intimacy that she is lacking. Also, Brown is caught offguard when he sees the journeyman mingle with Goody Cloyse. He comments that old woman taught me my catechism such a respectable woman is talking to evil. We are in any case told of how Browns family wasnt as wholesome as he believed. His grandfather lashed a Quaker woman while his father set fire to an Indian village. How did these men deal with their actions? I can remember reading about Puritans who used to whip themselves for their sins. This torment can exhaust you to a physical numbness but the sin is still in your mind. Through it all, I wonder about all the hell people were put through, during this time period, for acts that were deemed unacceptable  I really worry the symbolism in this story.