Like the Devil, the mysterious stranger does not appear to be evil initially. Similarly, at the destination of the walk through the trail, Goodman encounters a flaming alter that is also reminiscent of biblical stories. In his dream, the flaming alter probably represents a complete indoctrination into evil ways.
Fundamental Conflicts
The most important conflict in the story is represented by Goodman's decision about whether or not to forsake all that is good and his Faith (and faith) for what he knows is evil. The fact that he takes hold of a staff (although not the one that he witnessed transform into a serpent) suggests that Goodman was very close to embracing evil.
The man offers Goodman Brown the staff, saying that it might help him walk faster, but Goodman Brown refuses. He says that he showed up for their meeting because he promised to do so but does not wish to touch the staff and wants to return to the village. Goodman Brown tells the man that his family members have been Christians and good people for generations and that he feels ashamed to associate with him. The man replies that he knew Goodman Brown's father and grandfather, as well as other members of churches in New England, and even the governor of the state.
The fact that he seems more encouraged to accept evil when be believed that Faith had joined him in his journey suggests that he was very close to doing so and would have had she been with him (Fogle, 1952). He is torn between his need for her support and his hope that she, at least, is immune from evil:
Certain that there is no good in the world because Faith has turned to evil,
Goodman Brown grabs the staff, which pulls him quickly through the forest toward the ceremony. When he reaches the clearing where the ceremony is taking place, the trees around it are on fire, and he can see in the firelight the faces of various respected members of the community, along with more disreputable men and...
But he doesn't see Faith, and he starts to hope once again that she might not be there.
Finally, Goodman encounters two individuals in his journey who are already known to him in life: Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin. They have already embraced evil and this realization disturbs Goodman because it means that nobody he knows is actually and genuinely good; they all have the same fundamental flaw that makes them susceptible to evil (Fogle, 1952). This obviously affects Goodman deeply even after he realizes it was a dream:
The next morning, young Goodman Brown came slowly into the street of Salem village, staring around him like a bewildered man. The good old minister was taking a walk along the graveyard, to get an appetite for breakfast and meditate his sermon, and bestowed a blessing, as he passed, on Goodman Brown. He shrank from the venerable saint, as if to avoid an anathema. Old Deacon Gookin was at domestic worship, and the holy words of his prayer were heard through the open window. "What God doth the wizard pray to?" quoth Goodman Brown.
Goody Cloyse, that excellent old Christian, stood in the early sunshine, at her own lattice, catechising a little girl, who had brought her a pint of morning's milk.
Goodman Brown snatched away the child, as from the grasp of the fiend himself.
Turning the corner by the meeting-house, he spied the head of Faith, with the pink ribbons, gazing anxiously forth, and bursting into such joy at sight of him, that she skipt along the street, and almost kissed her husband before the whole village.
But Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting.
Works Cited
Fogle, Richard H. Hawthorne's Fiction: The Light and the Dark. University of Oklahoma Press. 1952.
Miller, Edwin H. Salem Is My Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
University of Iowa Press. 1991.
