Allegories appear in several literary works in order to present characters and events to represent an alternative idea. In “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne presents an allegory that uses symbolic characters to represent the fall of the man he supports through the depiction of dishonesty in religion. The characters, Goodman Brown, Faith, the Traveler, and the Dark Figure, all symbolize an idea greater than what their characters portray in the story. All of their distinct ideas come together to support the concept of the fall of man. Young Goodman Brown symbolizes the idea that man is inherently destined for evil. Throughout the story, Goodman Brown's character transforms from a kindly Puritan family man to a sad, miserable, cynical man who has a serious disbelief in his own religion. From the beginning of the story, Goodman Brown is doomed to villainy. For example, even his aim in the woods is bad from the start. Goodman Brown's wife is his only salvation for Heaven, and once Faith is taken from him, he ultimately relapses into his evil nature. If Goodman Brown's inner purity were stronger, he would never have indulged in evil and he would have been able to resist it. Instead, he becomes cynical. Goodman Brown loses his faith as everything he knows about his pure religion becomes a lie in the woods. All of his intact friends turn out to be devil worshippers. Even Brown's wife turns out to be one of the sinners, which is when he loses all faith. This makes Goodman Brown wonder how there can be any good in the world if even his pure and innocent wife is a sinner. After Goodman Brown's encounter with the coven of witches, he is a changed man forever. He becomes cynical and all the joy is in his ...... middle of paper ...... m and so on. In the same way that Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden of Eden and forced to live the life of a human, the equivalent in the story is that when Goodman Brown returns from the forest, all the happiness in his life has disappeared. the symbolism of the characters supports the idea of ​​the fall of man. Goodman Brown was a kind man who turned to evil. Several outside forces caused this outcome on his soul. Cynicism took control of his outlook on life. Brown's belief in religion was quickly rebuffed by the evil nature of man. She was a person that no one would expect to turn to evil. Man can certainly fall and it can happen to anyone. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. Ed. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 92-101. Print.