forest is an allegory for man s journey into the dark side of his own soul Faith as Wife and Symbol of Belief Faith is both a person and a symbol As a wife she waits at Salem village with pink ribbons As a symbol she is the Christian faith itself When Brown leaves her it shows how a man turns from belief to doubt When he sees her pink ribbon fall he cries My Faith is gone This allegorically means he loses not only his wife but also his spiritual faith and innocence The Forest and the Devil s Staff The forest in Young Goodman Brown is more than trees and darkness It is a symbol of man s inner world It shows fear doubt and temptation When Goodman Brown enters the forest he enters the secret place of his own heart The Devil meets him there He carries a serpent like staff This staff recalls the serpent in the Garden of Eden It is a sign of sin deceit and weakness The Devil offers the staff to Brown This means he offers temptation The shadows strange voices and fearful sounds of the forest all stand for hidden desires inside human nature Thus the forest and the staff together create an allegory of man s struggle against sin and inner evil Hypocritical Society- Goody Cloyse Minister and Deacon Gookin Brown feels shocked when he sees Goody Cloyse his old teacher greet the Devil He whispers That old woman taught me my catechism The Minister and Deacon Gookin leaders of Salem church also attend the devil s meeting Allegorically this shows the hypocrisy of Puritan society People who look holy in public carry secret sins in private It proves Hawthorne s idea that sin lies in every human heart The Devil s Sermon and the Universal Truth of Sin At the fiery altar the Devil welcomes everyone He says Welcome my children to the communion of your race Here saints and sinners stand together The message is clear mankind is united by sin Allegorically this is the truth of human nature People may act well but evil is always present Brown s final despair reflects how the loss of faith turns life into gloom Thus Young Goodman Brown is a rich allegory of man s spiritual journey Salem stands for society The forest stands for temptation Faith stands for belief The Devil stands for the evil side of human nature Through symbols and events Hawthorne teaches that Evil is the nature of mankind The story is not just about one man but about all humanity That is why it is read as one of the greatest allegories in American literature