Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"

This story is about a man's journey, Goodman Brown. His name to begin with, is so symbolic, considering it literally says he is a good man, and this story is about the conflict of good and evil. He leaves his newlywed wife to go into the woods to meet with a man of darkness. This is also set in Salem, which is ironic that we read this story a day before Halloween. In the woods he encounters many of his towns people who are seen to be perfect examples of outstanding citizens, Bishops, and pure holy people, all in the woods summoning this man of darkness in some ceremonial inauguration of sin. He realizes that it is a dream, but leaves the woods forever changed. He didn't even have the capacity before to imagine that people who were good could possibly have hidden evil in them. It then depicts his life of weariness and negativity toward everyone.