What do you think Hawthorne's purpose was for writing this story?

It can be hard to tell
what an author's intention was in writing a particular text, but Hawthorne often returns to the
same subjects again and again: religion, sin, and guilt.  " " doesn't seem to be an
exception.  Goodman Brown treats religious faith, symbolized by Faith, his wife, rather
casually.  Though Faith "sadly" asks him not to go into the forest that night, he
insists that he must, and...