5/29/2023 0 Comments Hawthorne young goodman brown![]() ![]() ![]() Further, this problematic framework for moral behavior emerges from the logic of Puritanism: the Puritans believed that the Elect were predestined by God to instinctively be moral and go to heaven, and so doing good became a tool for proving that a person was part of the Elect and a rightful member of the Puritan community rather than a legitimate expression of one’s internal moral compass. Put another way, Goodman Brown’s morals are hollow, held up from without rather than within. This is important, because it means that he measures his own goodness against the goodness of his community, not against an absolute sense of right and wrong he wants to do good in order to fit into his community, not in order to be moral or devout. ![]() He believes that all his relatives have been saintly, and the idea of being the first sinner horrifies him. Once again, his family connections seem to urge him to turn back and stay in town this time, instead of Faith asking him to stay in town, he thinks of the many generations of upright Puritans that came before him who would have wanted him to turn back. Goodman Brown must choose whether to continue onward or turn back, the same choice he had to make at the threshold of his house. ![]()
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