What is the symbolic importance of the character Goody Cloyse in Young Goodman Brown NU Nathaniel Hawthorne s - Young Goodman Brown is full of symbols One of the strongest is Goody Cloyse the old woman of Salem She is Goodman Brown s childhood teacher Her actions in the forest expose Puritan hypocrisy and symbolise hidden corruption in religion Teacher of Religion but Secretly Evil Goody Cloyse once taught Brown his catechism He respected her as a guide of faith But in the forest she greets the traveller calling him the Devil Brown cries That old woman taught me my catechism This shock shows betrayal Symbolically she stands for religious hypocrisy because a woman of faith secretly joins evil Representative of Salem s Hidden Sin Goody Cloyse is not just one woman She represents the Puritan community Outwardly she is holy She prays she teaches But in the dark forest