The most vivid affirmation of Hawthorne’s Puritanical disdain is present in the story, “Young Goodman Brown”. Hawthorne subscribes to the notion of forgiveness but unlike the Puritans he attributes it to the distrust in mankind the frontiersmen had. When the devil presents Brown with a gift, it is not the gift of a remarkable world; rather it is the ability to recognize malice and sin in his community. Also notable is that the devil in the story does not appear to be a deity, or supernatural, but rather in the form of a man.

            Evident in much of Hawthorne’s work, including that of “Young Goodman Brown”, there is an apparent dichotomy relating to his Puritanical views.  On one hand, Hawthorne upholds Puritan belief, however, his standpoint often reflects his disdain of the intolerance and cruelty inherent to the religion.  Through his exploration of Puritanical beliefs, Hawthorne battles with the notion of good versus evil, man’s struggle for purification and redemption, and importance of suffering to one’s existence.  Hawthorne’s symbolic representation of the forces of good and, most importantly, evil illustrate how these forces are present and active in challenging man’s beliefs and subsequent actions.

Hazard, Lucy Lockard. The Frontier in American Literature. New York: Frederick

     Ungar Publishing Co. Inc, 1927.

Stewart, Randall.  American Literature & Christian Doctrine.  Baton Rouge:

            Louisiana State University, 1950.