Young Goodman Brown: The Power of Darkness In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, the lead character is a young seventeenth-century newlywed puritan man who has a lot of pride. He makes one nighttime journey into the forest that changes his life forever. The path he ventures on takes him from his ordinary life into darkness where evil lurks. When the story opens Young Goodman Brown is bidding his wife, Faith, farewell since he has an appointment to keep. Faith’s name has a dual meaning, she is physically his wife but she also is his link to faith in God. Faith pleads with Young Good