Young Goodman Brown sees his wife, Faith, and she him at the Witches' Sabbath. The Devil welcomes them to the "communion of their race," implying that what characterizes the human race is our propensity for sinfulness (a common Hawthorne theme). They both stand, hesitating about whether or not they will allow themselves to join everyone else in the village and be "baptized" by Satan into this depraved congregation. It is at this moment that Young...
Young Goodman Brown sees his wife, Faith, and she him at the Witches' Sabbath. The Devil welcomes them to the "communion of their race," implying that what characterizes the human race is our propensity for sinfulness (a common Hawthorne theme). They both stand, hesitating about whether or not they will allow themselves to join everyone else in the village and be "baptized" by Satan into this depraved congregation. It is at this moment that Young Goodman Brown cries, "'Faith! Faith! [...]. Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One!'" However,
Whether Faith obeyed, he knew not. Hardly had he spoken, when he found himself amid calm night and solitude, listening to a roar of the wind, which died heavily away through the forest. He staggered against the rock, and felt it chill and damp, while a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew.
As soon as he implored Faith not to give in to the Devil, the entire Witches' Sabbath vanished around him and Goodman Brown was alone in the calm night. A branch that had, a moment before, been alight was now wet with dew. It was his appeal to Faith (the person, and also the concept) that removed him from the Hellish Sabbath. In asking her to resist, he, too, resists the Devil, and so the Devil disappears.
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