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is another narrative concerned with 's indictment of Calvinism and the psychological probing
into the heart of man.
In the beginning, the naive Goodman
Brown is convinced that he is of the elect; so certain is he of his faith that he
ventures out at night to the forest primeval with a "not unexpected
companion." Asserting that his father and other relatives are good Christians, Goodman
decides shortly that he should turn back. But, the old traveler scoffs at him, saying that he is
well acquainted with Brown's relatives,"They were my good friends." In fact, the old
man resembles Goodman's grandfather.
As he traverses the path to the forest,
Goodman encounters two pillars of his church, Goody Cloyse, who has taught him his catechism,
and Deacon Gookin; and, he is shocked to see and hear them speak excitedly of the night's
meeting. Later,when he sees Faith at the meeting, Brown is completely disillusioned:
"My Faith is gone! ...Come, devil; for to thee is this world
given."
After this experience of the depravity of
those he has considered among the elect with him, Goodman Brown realizes Calvinism is
diabolical, rather than divine. He rejects Faith when she greets him, for he no longer believes
in anything but "misery untterable," the depravity of man, and he despairs of any
chance to merit salvation, having seen the hypocrisy of those he perceived as the Calvinist
elect. Young Goodman Brown has suffered a great fall from innocence; his faith was too simple to
begin with as at first he has only a "notion" of evil, but now he has become
acquainted with it. Now, he believes only in the evil of man's
heart.
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