When and why does Goodman Brown abandon all faith?

This is a
great question because it gets to the heart of the ambiguity of the story. When Brown leaves to
go into the forest, he says "Poor little Faith!....What a wretch am I to leave her on such
an errand."  Because this is an , where concrete items represent abstract concepts, we need
to understand his farewell to his wife here also as his farewell to his "faith" in
either God, the goodness of humanity, or other variations of faith that enable us to love each
other in a community. As for despair, some aspects of Christianity (and puritanism is one) teach
that despair is the greatest sin because it forsakes God, putting one's own sadness above his
wisdom. I would argue, too, that Brown's despair signifies his loss of faith, which is the final
comment Hawthorne makes about human nature and evil in this story.