Faith
Faith"Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16). Goodman Brown did not have faith. He did not have religious faith nor faith in his fellow human beings in Salem. And because he didn't have faith he was became vulnerable to the "flaming arrows of the evil one". Goodman Brown like all of us has battles against the devil over our guilt, our sins, and our fears. And it is up to us to decide whether we will stand up to our demons or to succumb to it like Goodman Brown. Early on in the story we find out that the name of Goodman Brown's wife is Faith. And she with her "pink ribbons" symbolizes innocence and purity. She also symbolizes religious faith as well as faith in one's fellow human beings. When Goodman Brown is late getting to the forest he explains that his "Faith" kept him back which can be taken to meaning that his wife Faith kept him back as well as his religious faith. Also as he is leaving his wife Faith for the dark forest, he is also symbolically leaving behind his religious faith and his faith in his fellow human beings. He then enters the dark forest, which is a palette where the devil can paint images to cloud and tempt the faith of Goodman Brown. And in the forest he meets up with a second traveler, "about fifty years old, apparently in the same rank as Goodman Brown, and bearing considerable resemblance to him" (128). The second traveler is the devil. He carries with him a staff, "which bore the likeness of a great black snake, so curiously wrought that it might almost be seen to twist like a living serpent. The connection here is that according to the Bible, Satan in order to tempt Eve to devour the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden appeared in the form of a serpent. The devil tells him about how his grandfather and his father had done all these atrocities with the help of the devil. Upon hearing this Goodman Brown has lost faith in his father and grandfather. The devil then moves on to others that are significant in Goodman Brown's life Goodman Brown is being made to...
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