Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the forth of July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a descendant of Puritan immigrants; one ancestor had been a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials. Maybe this is where he got some of his inspiration for the story 'Young Goodman Brown'
The story of Young Goodman Brown is not just written to amuse people. It is a story told with two levels of meaning: a literal and a symbolic one. The symbolic meaning reflects moral themes. Hawthorne uses one thing to represent another. In this story for example the names do have a deeper meaning. Young Goodman Brown is called so because he really sees himself as a good man, which is in my opinion ironic cause he thinks he's better than the other people in his town, but meanwhile he just does the same as them and walks with the devil. Also the name of his wife 'Faith' has a symbolic meaning. It isn't just the name of his wife but it also represents his faith in God. …
