Question:
Young Goodman Brown Assessment
Since Nathaniel Hawthorne has a reputation for ambiguity, intentionally leaving his stories ambiguous and open-ended, this posting considers the following interpretations:
Is Young Goodman Brown's journey into the forest an evil dream (perhaps inspired by the devil)?
Is his journey a dream vision telling him the truth about human nature?
Is his journey a symbolic acting out of his own paranoid fears and suspicions about others?
Is his journey a symbolic acting out of his own sinful nature, his secret inclination toward evil?
Is Hawthorne's vision of evil in this story a re-creation of a historical cycle that his generation had left behind? Or is it his own view?