Nathaniel Hawthorne, it seems from the stories we have read, always has the same theme in his works--sin. For example, in "The Minister's Black Veil," the black veil represented the secret sin in everyone. In "Young Goodman Brown," this theme is once again present. Goodman Brown ventures into the forest one night and discovers the townspeople, including the holy priests and nuns, dancing in evil revelry. As he is about to get baptized into the evil world with his new wife, Faith, he wakes up in the forest, everything back to normal. When Goodman Brown returns into town, he is not the same--he sees everyone as evil and sinful. I think that Hawthorne is saying that it is not abnormal; everybody has sins, even people you would not expect.

There is also a lot of symbolism, yet again, in "Young Goodman Brown." When Goodman Brown leaves for the...