Throughout the short story of "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Goodman Brown travels through the woods along Death to some unknown mission. During the time Goodman Brown is walking all he wants is to break away from Death and go back to his new wife, Faith. The trouble is that Death and other villagers push him to continue on his way.
Goodman Brown struggles to fight against the satanic way of the village in the way that he tries to continue on what he believes is right. The problem is he has no one to lean on for support as all even dear Faith have been coerced by the Devils ways into doing what he wanted. Some men who Goodman Brown even believed where holy and Christians were persuaded by the Devil to do his bidding. The main conflict of avoiding a certain way of life and avoiding the need for outward conformity is that one must have some to join along with or something to pull back into. Having a strong foundation that will stay grounded no matter the stress that others place on it is the key to avoiding the need to join in what is going on.
Brown struggled with his choice to join the Devil and the villagers because he was fighting to be himself. In majority of all cultures, the desire to be true to oneself is implied but not practiced. If one is too much like themselves, then they could be considered weird and be branded as an outcast. Finding the right fit between being oneself and not joining into what is wanted by those around can cause many issues.
In Goodman Brown's travels he tries to evade the need to join into his society but he fails.He loses his new wife and he loses his own life. His lose represents the lost that all feel once they finally give into what the world around them wants. One loses oneself and loved ones when one choices to outwardly conform.
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