Young Goodman Brown

• "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Essential Questions

What is Certainty?

Aside from examples from mathematics, list five things about which you are absolutely certain.

What does the phrase, "beyond the shadow of a doubt" mean to you?

People were once certain that the earth was flat.  Does that suggest that all certainties might free from doubt?

People once believed that matter was solid, not composed mostly of empty space.  Does that make anything about which we think we are certain, a little doubtful?

• Do you think the soul is stained with a mark each time a person goes against the voice of his or her conscience?

• Do you believe everyone should have a conscience?

• Give an example of how the conscience works to help us define what the conscience is.

• Could we have a civilized society if there was nobody with a conscience?

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• Give a short explanation of the differences among and similarities between doubt and faith.

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• Is doubt more honest than faith?

• Is faith more virtuous (strong and reliable) than doubt?

• Which outlives the other: does faith outlive doubt, or does doubt outlive faith?

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• Is it honest and natural to live without doubts?  Is it natural and honest to live dependent upon faith?

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• If a person is brought up to believe in the absolute goodness of faith and to regard doubt as a sign of evil, what would happen if, by accident, a little doubt got into his or her mind?  Would it spread its stain into the soul?  And once stained, is there any guarantee it won't remain there like a bad mark, all the way to the judgment day?

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• Young Mr. Brown ("Goodman is an old fashioned title that means 'mister,' as "Goodie" is the old fashioned title for 'missus.') has recently gotten married.  His wife's name is Faith.  Instead of going home, one evening, Young Goodman Brown decides to take a walk into a forest that leads to the outskirts of the village.  There, in the company of a guide, he witnesses things that causes him to realize that faith is only a half-truth in life's story.  He does not wish to be corrupted by doubts about human nature, especially about his neighbors' and his own parents' nature, so he tries to get back to Faith as fast as he can.  But does he get back to his old life unscathed and untarnished?

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• Is even just thinking an evil thought an irreversible stain upon the individual's soul?

• YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN