After reading "Young Goodman Brown" and having previously read "The Scarlet Letter", I think it’s safe to assume that while yes a lot of Hawthorne’s work is social commentary, he himself has some deep seated issues regarding morality. The end of the story felt anticlimactic to me, while being ambiguous as to whether or not the whole experience was a dream could for some people leave them in suspense, for me it seemed a little like a cop out from someone who wasn’t quite sure how to end the story.

Hawthorne definitely has a sense of humor which I appreciate, for example naming a man who decided to renounce the devil “Goodman” and ironically naming a potential participant/human sacrifice “Faith”. Having a serpent staff for the devil who is portrayed as a serpent in the story of Adam and Eve was a nice touch. I liked where Goodman battles with what is happening around him and his struggles with temptation. It almost reminded me of The Agony In The Garden (Jesus’ battle with temptation the night before his crucifixion).

Hawthorne clearly likes to draw inspiration from the Bible, this is obvious to a reader even if they don’t know his personal background and struggle with faith.

I found aspects of the story to still be relevant to the world around us today, such as the part where Goodman says “We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness”, to which the devil points out religious and political representatives such as deacons and town chairman that he has had dealing with, and their subsequent corruption. It feels suspiciously close to how politics and religion are constantly being used in conjunction with one another despite there being a separation of church and state.