In 's
, Goodman Brown is symbolic of "everyman" or humankind in several
ways.
First, Brown believes that "what you see is what you get." He
never thinks to search beneath the surface of things, and takes everyone at face value. When he
finds that people in his community, as well as his own ancestors, have been "in league with
the devil," he is devastated. (It may not been that they served the devil at all, but that
they have "sinned" in general.)
Believing the best of everyone to
begin with is not Brown's mistake, but it is found in his belief that
others' mistakes make them evil. Goodman Brown lacks
faith in his fellowman. His short-sightedness blinds him to the good that there
is in the people around him.
The reader does not know if
what Brown saw in the woods was a dream or notonce again, however, he
believes what he sees without question. People have disappointed him
because they are not perfect, and unlike the precepts of his faith, he can
find no way to...
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