Free College Essays - The Human Psyche in Hawthornes Young Goodman Bro

Young Goodman Brown Essay: The Human Psyche Young Goodman Brown offers unique insight regarding the human psyche. Through psychoanalysis, the text shows how humans are easily manipulated when shown a temptation to succumb to a primitive desire. The text shows Goodman Brown, a puritan traveling to a religious gathering, is greeted by a strange man who serves as the device of revelation regarding the human mind. The pure mind of Goodman Brown ultimately gives-in to temptation because of the weak human will through the use of a simple device: the strange man's staff. Before the story can enter into the main plot, the text must overcome a problem. This comes when trying to show Goodman Brown's tempter. Though the reader is offered a "strange man", this creature alone cannot suffice as the cause of the puritan's downfall. If this were the case, the text would imply a belief that man is powerful enough to cause its own downfall, and the ego of one individual could triumph over another. This is not the case. The text must use a method using an outside force to instigate man's down...