Goodman Brown’s Father Character Analysis in Young Goodman Brown

Goodman Brown’s father, who died before the story’s start. The devil tells Goodman that he and Goodman’s father were close friends, and describes helping his father set fire to an Indian village during King Philip’s war. Goodman Brown thinks he sees his father’s form in the smoke at the devil’s conversion ceremony urging him to worship the devil.

Goodman Brown’s Father Quotes in Young Goodman Brown

The Young Goodman Brown quotes below are all either spoken by Goodman Brown’s Father or refer to Goodman Brown’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of Young Goodman Brown published in 2011.

“I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip's war.”

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 196

Explanation and Analysis:

“I marvel they never spoke of these matters; or, verily, I marvel not, seeing that the least rumor of the sort would have driven them from New England. We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness.”

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: 196

Explanation and Analysis:

He could have well-nigh sworn that the shape of his own dead father beckoned him to advance, looking downward from a smoke wreath, while a woman, with dim features of despair, threw out her hand to warn him back. Was it his mother?

Related Characters: , ,

Page Number and Citation: 203

Explanation and Analysis:

Goodman Brown’s Father Character Timeline in Young Goodman Brown

The timeline below shows where the character Goodman Brown’s Father appears in Young Goodman Brown. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The man shocks Goodman Brown by replying that he was good friends with Goodman Brown’s father, grandfather, and other Puritans and Puritan leaders, and has enjoyed acts of cruelty and sacrilege... (full context)

...as “my worship.” She observes that the devil taken on the appearance of Goodman Brown’s grandfather, and calls young Goodman Brown a “silly fellow.” She then complains that her broomstick was... (full context)

...steps out of the forest. In the smoke he sees the shape of his dead father beckoning him forward and the shape of his dead mother warning him back, but he... (full context)