The world we live in allows no time for us to waste on useless matters that are irrelevant to our lifestyles. Humans have a strong tendency to participate in activities they think will provide them with a great future or those that are purely entertaining. Humans are also a nosy species; curiosity seems to influence an abundance of their decisions. However, this curiosity is selective as people don't exert their valuable time and effort on frivolous matters. The objects or ideas that one is eager to learn about can expose their raw character, even the parts they buried. Goodman Brown does a fabulous job at illustrating just how much his inquiries revealed more about him than the answers he was searching for.
In the inception, Young Goodman Brown wanted to believe in the goodness of the people surrounding him because he thought he knew their authentic personality. He grew up with everyone he would eventually find in the forest and was not expecting to confront them at the devil's playground. For instance, he believed that the minister, Goody Cloyse and Deacon Gookin held impenetrable religious values before the devil revealed that Goody Cloyse was in fact a witch and Deacon Gookin was a follower of his. This devil that he encountered also informed Young Goodman Brown that he knew both his grandfather and father, which shocked Goodman Brown beyond belief. As if the name of his wife, Faith, didn't explicate her nature and purity enough, Goodman Brown still questioned her righteousness once the old man explained the details of the ceremony. Even a lifetime spent with his loved ones wasn't enough for Goodman Brown to disregard one possible fictitious night.
Young Goodman Brown was forever changed after he fell asleep that night in the forest. Of course he wasn't entirely sure if it was all just a dream or the sick, twisted reality of his little Salem village, but that didn't matter to him. He still pretended to believe in the decency of his fellow villagers but continued to debate their morality.This constant internal dispute of which character he saw as he looked into the eyes of those he recognized that one night destroyed him. People started to slowly gravitate away from him and wonder what had changed. Goodman Brown could have easily forgotten his sightings that contradicted his entire life, but he continued to let his curiosity get the best of him. His intense inquisitiveness exposed what he was actually concerned about. The devil had so much of an impact on Young Goodman Brown, that he allowed him to virtually control the rest of his life. Goodman Brown was obsessed with judging those specific people in his village that he lost the man he was before the dreaded illusion. Clearly, his religion and ideals were easily corruptible if one night with the devil was able to completely transform Goodman Brown from the man he was previously. All of this questioning disclosed Goodman Brown's top priorities that contravened his portrayal of a man he wanted everyone to believe in.
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