Study Questions for "Young Goodman Brown":

1. What do Faith's pink ribbons symbolize?

2. What sorts of people does Young Goodman Brown encounter?  Why is he surprised?
 

3. Why does the darkly clad man at the opening of the story resemble Young Goodman Brown's father?

4. Why does the narrator use terms like "fancied," "appeared," "might almost be seen," and "perhaps"?

5. In the last paragraph of the story, why does Young Goodman Brown turn sad?  Why, as the narrator notes, was it "they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone"?  What is the reason for Young Goodman Brown's tragedy?