It helps to have historical background when readings works one might call “literature.” Understanding Nathaniel Hawthorne without much knowledge on the Puritans, for example, would prove quite difficult. Of course, one thinks of repression, fear-mongering, and hypocrisy along with the Puritans, but here’s where research fills the necessary gaps.
Let’s look at Hawthorne’s most anthologized short story, “Young Goodman Brown.” Here, a well-to-do Puritan traverses a dark forest at night on Halloween with a sinister, though unexpressed, intention. Brown meets a devilish “figure” who eventually guides him to a witch’s sabbath. What Brown finds matches everything the Puritans had feared: witches communing in a dark forest conducting strange rituals and devil worship. It’s well documented that, back in 1692, Reverend Parris’ servant Tituba corroborated earlier accusations of witchcraft by describing such fantastic rituals. Her testimony gave Salem’s witch hunt the momentum it needed. Most interpret Tituba’s confession as coerced due to psychological pressure from authorities. In fact, many of the accused lied about being witches to avoid execution. The Puritans believed in redemption; therefore, if an accused witch confessed, they were reprieved. Those who insisted on their innocence were hanged.
Why were the Puritans like this? Not only was the Massachusetts colony a haven for the Puritans, they believed that providence carried them there. They lived under a “covenant” with God, a divine agreement where obeying God’s will offered the pathway to salvation. Added to this, the covenant applied to all members of one’s circle/town. So, if one person went against God’s will, the community’s entire salvation became jeopardized. Crop failures, for example, were often explained as God’s punishment for moral degradation. This illuminates why Reverend Parris and others around 1692 fired up their sermons with fear-based rhetoric, thereby enforcing mass suspicion and doubt amongst one another.
Salem village life around 1692 was quite unstable. Their charter had been revoked and a struggle with English regulations/taxes hampered the Puritan mission. Fear of Indian attacks/hostility also lingered. Doubt had crept into the newer generations, for different Christian sects settled in the colony by the late 17th century, previewing a religious freedom that threatened the Puritan’s attempted theocracy. Not everyone fervently supported the witch trials, even in Salem village. So the Puritan stronghold (their perceived providence) in the new world was slipping. A scapegoat was needed: witchcraft, which equated to devil worship for the Puritans.
In an atmosphere of intense fear and suspicion, danger becomes very real. ”Young Goodman Brown” illustrates how the Puritans’ doomsday rhetoric worked its magic, no pun intended. Goodman Brown discovers practically everyone from Salem village in the forest on his journey, even his former teacher, Goody Cloyse. This is a reference to Sarah Cloyse, one of the accused witches later acquitted after the Governor shut down the trials. The devil also takes credit for his “work,” historical events such as the Puritan whipping of Ann Coleman, a Quaker, and the burning of an Indian village fort back in 1675. Martha Cory, one of the hanged, and Martha Carrier, who claimed to be the devil’s “queen of hell,” also show up in Hawthorne’s short story.
Many interpretations of “YGB” exist, but what’s compelling is the uncertainty surrounding Brown’s journey. He sees vague forms which all vanish at one point, pointing to either a dream or an intense hallucination. Hawthorne leaves this question up to the reader, and appropriately so, to determine their own interpretation of this fantastic incident. Brown is doomed to paranoia the rest of his life, which shows the effect of a society under mass suspicion/control. Many interpret Brown’s forest adventure as a journey into his own troubled mind, which would make sense, because our minds do deceive. Doubt constantly assaults Brown, which causes his abandonment of faith. We see what we want to see, and in Salem 1692, widespread fear carried deadly consequences. Hawthorne’s brilliance comes off allegorical as well as literal, in how the reader grasps in vain for a clear picture.
Sources:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown and other tales.” Oxford world classics (explanatory notes are helpful here).
“The Salem Witch Trials” Opposing Viewpoints series. This is a basic text, which does provide balanced interpretations.
Morgan, Edmund S. ”The Puritan Family.” This more scholarly book gives detailed pictures of Puritan life.
