Young Goodman Brown was neither an evil nor purely a faithful character, but he was as normal as everyman is his society could have been. A normal man whose bad desires could win over his faith on a moment of temptation urged to him persuasively by any other member of the society, and who, after he sunk in his sin, was neither helped nor given the chance to repent.
There were many reasons why Young Goodman Brown, who weakly struggled against the devilish temptation, was defeated and then wholly changed by the end of the journey.
Many evidences show that Young Goodman Brown "'"s faith was weak and consequently useless when needed. First of all, most the time, what a wife says or believes in is secondary to what a man says or believes in. And this was the notion that made Young Goodman Brown "'"s faith deserve being a wife. Women are generally weak and so is Young Goodman Brown "'"s faith. And when faith is weak, it cannot control the man. The author knew that women are not always weaker or less influencing than men, but some pink ribbons would function and make his wife innocent and weak enough for the plot of the story to be convincing.
Another weak point in Young Goodman Brown "'"s Faith was that his wife, Faith, tried to convince him to put off his journey while she was supposed to persuade him to cancel it instead. And, moreover, his faith was not able to achieve the purpose. Which means his faith tried least and got the least, for it was apparently weak.
When faith is weak, not only it cannot control desires, but also it needs protection and care for it could be lost at any time. And that was what made faith beg Young Goodman Brown to put off his journey and stay with her that night. But knowing that Faith was troubled with such dreams and thoughts, Young Goodman Brown betrayed his faith when he left it/her alone. And consequently he will be left alone afterwards when he tries to retrieve it/her during his journey.
At the beginning of his journey, Young Goodman Brown was suspicious and hesitant, but it was apparent that it was because he feared the society and not because of his strong faith. So when he saw Goody Cloyse he wanted to avoid her seeing him expecting she would ask whom he was consorting with, and whither he was going.
Young Goodman Brown knew the journey was dangerous and troublesome for it was night, but he insistedto go. And before that journey he had made his mind up to go considering his faith a secondary weapon or alternative to use when he fears or fails at his journey. But later on he was not able to retrieve his faith, and he perceived that he lost his faith from the beginning.
While in his journey, Young Goodman Brown tried many times to repent and go back. Another evidence to proof how much of weakness he had in his faith, that he was changing his mind wholly within seconds. He doubted God"'"s existence at a moment, but after while he cried; '"'With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!'"'
Finally, trying to go back to his faith, Young Goodman Brown cried many times for his faith to come. But he got two things only from his faith, its figure and its pink ribbons, which means he got only appearances and useless things from his faith for it was fake and weak.
The journey was over, and Young Goodman Brown "'"s character was filtered and wholly changed. He no more sees any diference between good and wicked people; he thinks that they are all the same, and the supposedly good ones do not deserve the Christian titles they have. He shrank from good Christians as if they were the devils themselves, because he no more trusts the society.This mistrust exchanged between him and the society is a hot point to be focused on. Sin, hypocrisy, hesitation, and irrational judgments all make this mistrus. .
Young Goodman Brown lost two things by the end of the journey; First, he lost his faith in society and did not trust the society any more. Second, he lost the faith in God himself and shrank from his faith. As a result Young Goodman Brown was isolated from his society, and no one tried to maintain him. And the society craved no hopeful verse upon his tomb when he died.
Young Goodman Brown was neither helped nor given the chance to repent. He was most the time led by elder persons in his society. He was whether led to evil such as the man who led him in his journey or led to good deeds and beliefs by good Christians such as the minister and the Deacon.
Young Goodman Brown should have been given the chance to repent for many reasons. First, it was the first time he commits sins, his being hesitant and suspicious proves that he was not accustomed to such journeys and sins. Second, he tried many times to sustain his weak faith. And third, evil was urged to Young Goodman Brown by the devil himself and by elder and more experienced persons, but it was not from his own. So some hopeful verse should have been craved upon his soul since it was not his mistake to lose his faith.
