Goodman Brown Falls Prey to the "Inner Ring"

Travis Hiland Response

There is no need to suggest Goodman Brown falls prey to temptation. Of course, he did!  The whole story is about his falling prey to the many forms of Lucifer's invitations to turn from faith and the aftermath of yielding to such invitations. The question is what motivated Goodman's fall and, specifically, was his motivation based on the "Inner Ring" theory suggested by C.S. Lewis?

There are two prongs to Lewis' theory, the need to be accepted and the need to have exclusive knowledge. It does not appear in the beginning that Goodman was after social acceptance, he was embraced in the comfort of a new marriage. Rather, his quest had the tone of a business trip, an “errand” with required time frames and a sense of urgency and purpose. Perhaps it was knowledge he was after.

In any case, we are introduced to Goodman after he has already made the fateful decision to entertain his dark purpose and the text is silent about what motivated his original decision to travel.

What is clear, however, is that his decision was based on a rationalization against his and Faith's better judgment --the first step toward engaging in any sinful act is the justification of the act!  We find him comforting himself over his decision:

“What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand!...after this one night I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven.”  With this excellent resolve for the future, Goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose (1).

He also acknowledged that he was late in arriving to the dark hour with his dark companion because “Faith kept me back a while,” (2) –with obvious connotations to wrestling his conscience.

His statement to his shady traveling companion at the beginning of his journey, that he was only there to keep a covenant, indicates that he was satisfying some prior business obligation and was not fully committed to his course.

 “Friend,” said the other, exchanging his slow pace for a full stop, “having kept covenant by meeting thee here, it is my purpose now to return whence I came. I have scruples touching the matter thou wot'st of.” (3)

As late as page 5, he is still outwardly insisting on turning back,"Friend,” said he, stubbornly, “my mind is made up. Not another step will I budge on this errand" (5).

He even forcefully declared, “With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!” (7), but it didn't take much convincing for Goodman to look for things to confirm his biases, to fixate on his fear, and grief, and doubt. In this double-minded state he saw illusions of faith lost and the distortions gave him the permission to let loose.

“My Faith is gone!” cried he, after one stupefied moment. “There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given” (8).

"On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him" (8).

He may have showed up convinced he was just going to take a peak inside, but he lingered because he wanted to believe he could gain knowledge without faith.

In the end, I suppose he was searching for an Inner Ring, something to hold on to to justify his twisted sense of obligation to the darkness and unbridled curiosity, and to compensate for the absence of any real sense of his own identity. In the face of crisis and in the aftermath of his dark journey, his knowledge of the secret combinations of witches was no strength and brought no solace. The devil, after all, never does support his children.