Young Goodman Brown

1. I think Hawthorne's purpose for writing this story was to show how much temptation, curiosity, and fear of the unknown can change someones life forever, and cause people to act without thinking of what can happen next.
2.  Not knowing if Goodman's experience was a dream or not, after reading the story, Faith's names still suites her, and I think it fits her personality because spending time with her husband was the only things she wanted, and she always tried to show affection toward him. Throughout the story Goodman was very faithful and loyal to Faith, always having her first in mind, not wanting to leave her, and always believing in their trust and innocence. However, in the end all that faith vanished after Goodman's vision, and even though he wasn't sure if his vision was true or not, that faith or trust was never able to be rejoined.
3. I believe the pink ribbons symbolize Faiths and even Goodman's innocence and purity, because ribbons appear young, cheerful, and graceful, which is what Hawthorne is trying to shape her character as.
4. By the end of the story it was hard to determine whether what Goodman witnessed was real or a figment of his imagination, yet overall I believe it was all a dream. I think this whole scenario was a way to show "Goodmans" dark side, making it seem like he was a godly man, with an innocent background, and never thought of anything concerning the devil, yet it was lurking in his thoughts.
5. I think Hawthorne used foreshadowing in the beginning, when Goodman felt the devil was hiding in the forest lurking up on him, and then with the staff resembling a serpent.
6. I think the staff represents the Devil, and the temptation the devil brings to Goodman telling him that it will help him travel faster and easy, acting as a key to join the devil.
7. I think if Goodman hadn't ventured into the forest his life definitely would have turned out different, because he would still have faith and trust in his community and his wife, yet I think he still would of had that curiosity, and of "what if", and it might have drove him crazy.