Nathaniel Hawthorne: Spirits of Ancestors and Faith in the Wilderness

Nathaniel Hawthorne believed that each of his children were products of guilt and grief. His eldest daughter died mysteriously at a very young age. His son, Julian, was arrested and put in prison for being a conman. The youngest daughter, Rose, was constantly at war with her siblings and her husband. She also lost a child. Rose soon "gave up the world as if [I were] dead." I can't imagine the angst that this would bring to a father. Thinking of my own father I know that it would break his heart to see so much unhappiness and suffering in his family.

Nathaniel's grandfather, William Hawthorne, and his father, John were strong men, known to be harsh and brutal legislatures. Nathaniel believed that his family was cursed due to the fact that his father judged over the Salem Witch Trials. John judged, found guilty, and watched the executions of the accused. Nathaniel came to believe that one of the accused cursed his family. Nathaniel must have been in a constant state of confusion, angst, and depression due to what his father and his grandfather did before him. This brings us to the idea of the family history and what is known, and what is not known, and why it even matters at all.

Before this class I didn't realize how many family secrets I had in my own family! I'll tell what I know of my family history and the "secrets" that were kept hushed and locked away. My great-great-grandmother came from Hungary. Gyuras, if you didn't know, is in fact, a Hungarian name. She was not married and at a young age was raped! She came to America just before World War I. However, she did not bring her son, Alexander, with her. She left him in Hungary with family. I'm certain that she felt a deep sense of guilt for leaving her child behind. However, it must also have been difficult to live with such a reminder of a tragic event that occurred. Not to mention the way she had been seen in society at that time!!! Unmarried, pregnant, and seemingly in a hopeless position! She, a devout Catholic, prayed every day for comfort in her pain and to keep her child safe in Hungary. She raised a family of twelve children and never did return to Hungary. She never saw Alexander again.

There are other secrets in my family which are not talked about AT ALL. I will not go into details because of how sensitive the material is. I will say that there are secrets about a mysterious drowning, a rape that went without justice, molestation, drug problems, marriage problems, and a pregnancy out of wedlock. There are others but I won't mention them here. These secrets have led to severe guilt and depression which have been passed down from generation to generation. These are the things that no one talks about. My own mother thinks I don't know any of these secrets but I have learned somehow. We don't talk about it. I suppose I understand where Nathaniel Hawthorne's severe guilt and depression came from, even though he himself had nothing to do with the past events.

In the short story, Young Goodman Brown, reflections of Nathaniel's depression, guilt, and angst can be read between the lines. The story begins with a young man; a young good-man, leaving his wife, Faith for some kind of trip. She begs for him to stay with her but fails at changing his mind. Right away we can see that the wife, Faith, is a symbol of faith in general. Young Goodman Brown abandons both his wife and his "faith" as he goes into the forest. While in the forest he meets a man who carries a staff that looks like a great black snake. It can be concluded that these two men have some kind of deal and Young Goodman Brown tries to say he will do this evil deed but must immediately return to his "goodness" afterwards. However, he seems worried and says: "My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him. We have been a race of honest men and good Christians since the days of the martyrs; and shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kept...(67)." The man that looks like him interrupts and says: "I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans...(67)." Young Goodman Brown tries to argue that his family are a "people of prayer" and do not live by wickedness. The other man tells him it doesn't matter what he says or thinks; he knows all these people in the church and government who should be good, honest, Christians but have "drunk the communion wine [with me]." Therefore this man, or the Devil, is trying to get Young Goodman Brown to see that all these "good" people are just illusions and they have all sinned to some extent. I also believe that this shows Nathaniel's guilt about what his father and grandfather did before him.

As the story continues he sees people that he knows and believes to be good. They have all come to meet for ceremony of the new converts. Young Goodman Brown hears a woman screaming and knows it to be his wife, Faith. He cries out: "My Faith is gone!...There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given (71)." Here, Young Goodman Brown has not only lost his wife but we are also led to believe that he has lost his faith in God and in humanity. I can't imagine what it would be like to be at some kind of evil ceremony surrounded by people that you thought you knew and could trust. "Among them, quivering to and fro between gloom and splendor, appeared faces that would be seen next day at the council board of the province, and others which, Sabbath after Sabbath, looked devoutly heavenward, and benignantly over the crowded pews, from the holiest pulpits in the land...But irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints (72)." It appears that everyone from the village is there!!!

As Young Goodman Brown is brought forward as a convert so is a veiled female that turns out to be his wife, Faith. They are told at the ceremony: "Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race (74)." Just as they are about to be baptised with what appears to be blood, Young Goodman Brown tells Faith to resist the wicked one. The next thing we know Young Goodman Brown is alone again in the forest. The next morning he comes into the Salem village and all he can see are the people that he believed to be good as evil: the minister, Deacon Gookin, and Goody Cloyse. The story ends sadly with him never regaining his faith and living a dark and depressing life with no happiness, ending with his death. I wonder if Young Goodman Brown's guilt was passed on to his children like it was in the case of Nathaniel Hawthorne's history and in my own family history.

One interesting aspect of this short story would be the fact that it takes place in the wilderness. At this time the wilderness was the Devil's playground. I have noticed in all the material written at this time in our history that there seems to be something about the land that haunts. The Puritans lived in a constant and chronic state of uncertainty. I think that it was very clever of Nathaniel to take Young Goodman Brown and put him into this forest of uncertainty. At the end of the story Young Goodman Brown takes this forest of uncertainty back with him into the village. Maybe he believed that his village was still set upon the Devil's playground and he could never truly escape from this idea.

The most interesting aspect of this story is this concept of faith. Through his own free will Young Goodman Brown chooses to leave Faith at home. He was faced with this choice: to stay true to faith or to abandon it. He chose to abandon it as he chose to abandon his wife! Later in the story, however, we find that Faith is the woman beneath the veil. What is Faith doing in the forest?! In the middle of the Devil's Playground?! I have pondered over this for some time. I believe that she, as a symbol of Young Goodman Brown's faith, is constantly with him. She does not leave his side just because he chooses to abandon her. HE CANNOT ABANDON HIS FAITH!!! He may believe that he has but it hides in his shadow and in the smallest corner of his heart.

What it all boils down to is Young Goodman Brown's inability to accept that he wasn't pure. He had been tempted. His family before him had been tempted and there choices run in the blood of his veins. I believe that this is exactly how Nathaniel Hawthorne felt about his own family. Young Goodman Brown also saw a people who had forgot their place in front of God. This is probably what contributed to his choice to abandon his faith. Perhaps he saw all these good Christians who had lost their place in front of God; maybe making him doubt his faith and in the end completely obliterating it in his mind. Despite this, I don't think it ever really left his side.

What is Evil?

What is Evil? How do you define it? Surely, Evil can be recognized, but is it possible to define such a concept? Can we protect ourselves against Evil? Work towards preventing it? Is that possible? Is Evil a permanent position? Can Evil redeem itself? What does the face of Evil even look like? How does it think? Does Evil use the human body as its instrument to destroy? The questions seem to be as diverse in nature as they are endless. The answers are limitless as well.

As an exercise in class we were to define the word Evil. I was surprised at how many different definitions there were for such a small word. We filled the chalkboard with different ideas and perspectives on Evil, whether its internal, external, or both; where it came from, why it survives, or the entirely new question of whether Evil even exists at all. I defined Evil as...the absence of love...empathy, charity...hope and faith. I believe that Evil flourishes in areas of emptiness where these ideas are not present.

In class we also discussed Cotton Mathers and the New England community that he lived in. In his work, On Witchcraft, Cotton Mather's creates a persona for his community. Mathers states on page fourteen: "The New-Englanders are a People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil's Territories; and it may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly disturbed, when he perceived such a People here accomplishing the Promise of old made unto our Blessed Jesus, That He should have the Utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession." They are God's people or a "chosen" people. Mather's saw their community as one body, not a community made up of individuals. These chosen ones were to work throughout their life to claim a landscape that belonged to the Devil. They had to battle him for this land.

Mather's characterizes the Devil as trying to destroy these chosen people. He will try anything to get his land back. Satan needs to take on the strongest, not the weak and vulnerable, in order to feel powerful. We learn that Satan also has soldiers as Mathers observes in his book on page sixteen: "...'tis Agreed, That the Devil has made a dreadful knot of Witches in the Country, and by the help of Witches has dreadfully increased that Knot: That these Witches have driven a Trade of Commissioning their Confederate Spirits, to do all sorts of Mischiefs to the Neighbours, whereupon there have ensued such Mischievous consequences upon the Bodies and Estates of the Neighbourhood, as could not otherwise be accounted for: yea, That at prodigious Witch-Meetings, the Wretches have proceeded so far, as to Concert and Consult the Methods of Rooting out the Christian Religion from this Country..." This idea that the Devil had an army helping him to destroy their pure community, handpicked by God, led to the paranoia that would cost so many their lives.

The Puritans believed that Satan attacked the soul through its vehicle, or actual physical body. This led to the belief that the body was the primary playground for Satan. The weaknesses of the flesh such as sex, gluttony, and drunkenness could all potentially allow Satan to defeat the physical body and claim the soul for his own purposes. Women were more likely to fall to the Devil because they had weaker physical bodies than men. Men were stronger and therefore did not appeal to the Devil. On page twenty-two Mather discusses the soul: "I would most importunately in the first place, entreat every Man to maintain an holy Jealousie over his Soul at this time, and think; May not the Devil make me, though ignorantly and unwillingly, to be an Instrument of doing something that he would have to be done?" Mather's wanted the Puritan people to do all that they could to ensure that their bodies were strong enough to protect their souls from the Devil. They believed in moments of dissatisfaction, anger, sadness, and frustration, that the Devil could approach and claim the body and soul of that person for himself. In class we discussed how there was a great pressure to be unified and harmonious because tension was the moment that one could succumb to Satan's powers.

This opens another area of interest in the lives of these people. They must have been extremely terrified of their own bodies! At any time they could possibly fall ill, get a rash, or find a mysterious looking mole, all which could be interpreted as working with Satan or potentially working with Satan. I think at that time if one would fall ill others would not want to care for that person in fear that their own Soul would be put in jeopardy. This idea of the body is very different from the ideas of today. Today we are taught to embrace our bodies and take care of them. Many people may still view the body as the vehicle to the soul but they most likely do not believe to such extremes as the Puritans believed.

I was fascinated by the actual trials that were discussed at the end of the book. It really made me stop and wonder what made these trials possible?! How could these people believe all of these outlandish accusations?! After reading, I came to the conclusion that they needed to have reasons that would be able to explain the unknown. Unfortunately, this led to the death of many innocent victims. The Puritans lived a community where there was no separation between church and state. I believe that this also may have been a major factor in the Salem Witch Trials. People who were accused were to confess for redemption. They would be saved souls. Those that refused to confess were guilty and would not be saved, even if they were perfectly innocent. Therefore, these people were executed.

In all these trials the victims were people who went against the grain, if you will. These people were just different and stood out from the rest of the Puritan crowd. I find that the Puritans had become hypocrites by "practicing" their religion and yet, going against it at the same time. All the accused were said of having done horrible things to their fellow neighbors.

Almost all of the victims were accused of causing the deaths of animals and livestock, such as cows or pigs. In the trial of Bridget Bishop she was accused by: "...John Bly and his Wife testifi'd, That he bought a Sow of Edward Bishop, the Husband of the Prisoner...the Sow was taken with strange Fits; Jumping, Leaping, and Knocking her Head against the Fence; she seem'd Blind and Deaf, and would neither Eat nor be Suck'd." Similarly, in the trial of Susanna Martin she was accused by: "...John Allen of Salisbury...put his Oxen, with many more, upon Salisbury Beach, where Cattle did use to get Flesh. In a few days, all the Oxen upon the Beach were found by their Tracks, to have run unto the Mouth of Merrimack-River, and not returned...of fourteen good Oxen, there was only this saved: The rest were all cast up, some in one place, and some in another, Drowned." And for another example, in the trial of Martha Carrier: "...Samuel Preston, testify'd, that about two years ago, having some difference with Martha Carrier, he lost a Cow in a strange Preternatural unusual manner." Clearly, animals at this time were extremely important for the livelihood of many Puritans so it can be understood why they were upset by these strange happenings. It is unfortunate, however, that humans were blamed for the unexplained behaviors of the animals.

Many were accused of causing pain and death to the children of the community. It is hard for me to fathom the idea of anyone hurting an innocent child, although I know that it continue to happen to this day. Bridget Bishop was accused of inflicting pain on children during her trial. "Samuel Shattock testify'd, That in the Year, 1680, this Bridget Bishop, often came to his House...his eldest Child, which was of as promising Health and Sense, as any Child of its Age, began to droop exceedingly; and the oftner that Bishop came to the House, the worse grew the Child...Ever after the Boy was follow'd with grievous Fits, which the Doctors themselves generally ascribed unto Witchcraft, and wherein he would be thrown still unto the Fire or the Water, if he were not constantly look'd after; and it was verfily believed that Bishop was the cause of it" (109-110). I believe that in most of these cases the child had some kind of disease or ailment that was yet to be discovered at that time, and today would have been diagnosed. It was mere coincidence that the child grew worse every time that Bishop went to the house.

The most shocking aspect of the trials was the sexual and erotic subtext. Almost all the women in this book were accused of entering a man's bedchamber and assaulting him! This makes me think that maybe some of the men were sexually frustrated OR they were having affairs and rather than be found guilty of such a crime, were quickly to accuse. "John Cook testifi'd, That about five or six Years ago, one Morning, about Sun-Rise, he was in his Chamber assaulted by the Shape of this Prisoner..." Another, "Richard Coman testifi'd, That eight Years ago, as he lay awake in his Bed, with a Light burning in the Room, he was annoy'd with the Apparition of this Bishop, and of two more that were strangers to him, who came and oppressed him so, that he could neither stir himself, nor wake any one else, and that he was the night after, molested again in the like manner." Bridget Bishop was not the only one accused of entering a man's bedchamber at night. Susanna Martin was accused by several men as well: "Bernard Peache testifi'd, That being in Bed, on the Lord's day Night, he heard a scrabbling at the Window, whereat he then saw Susanna Martin come in, and jump down upon the Floor. She took hold of the Deponent's Feet, and drawing his Body up into an Heap, she lay upon him near Two Hours; in all which time he could neither speak nor stir. At length, when he could begin to move, he laid hold on her Hand, and pulling it up to his Mouth, he bit three of her Fingers, as he judged, unto the Bone." Another man also accused Susanna Martin of visiting him late at night: "Jervis Ring testify'd, That about seven years ago, he was oftentimes and grievously oppressed in the Night, but saw not who troubled him; until at last he Lying perfectly Awake, plainly saw Susanna Martin approach him. She came to him and forceably bit him by the Finger; so that the Print of the bite is now, so long after, to be seen upon him." I'm not really sure what to think of all these accusations but can only conclude that these men had lots of sexual frustrations. Along the same subject we discussed in class how women were to be stripped naked so that witchmarks could be located. The religious leaders would feel the women's breasts and stomachs "looking for evil" within their bodies. I feel that this is extremely disgusting and I can only conclude that it was some kind of sexual molestation, especially in the case where there were young girls.

What makes this so hard to swallow is the lack of hard proof there was for all of these trials. I guess we can't really say what did or what did not happen during that time. I'll end this post with a quote from Mathers: "...let us more generally agree to maintain a kind Opinion one of another. That Charity without which, even our giving our Bodies to be burned would profit nothing, uses to proceed by this Rule; It is kind, it is not easily provok'd, it thinks no Evil, it believes all things, hopes all things. But if we disregard this Rule of Charity, we shall indeed give our Body Politick to be burned" (22). This goes back to my definition of Evil: the absence of love...empathy and charity...hope and faith. Though they believed in these ideas I can't stop wondering: Were the Puritans almost Evil?