Nancy Bunge in Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Study of the Short Fiction (1993)
comments on the theme of "Young Goodman Brown."
"All people are sinful and can connect with each other honestly and
directly only after facing and confessing this aspect of themselves. But Brown
turns away from this insight, lives in terms of social codes, and destroys his
life by attempting to preserve his goodness. The tale presents this truth so
starkly that, despite the enormous volume of critical commentary on this story,
most acknowledge it as the tale's theme. It seems appropriate so many scholars
have brought so much attention to this story, since it powerfully evokes one
of Hawthorne's central ideas: the destructive consequences of ignoring the disjunction
between universal frailty and societal arrogance" (14). (courtesy of Twayne
Publishers)
