Young Goodman Brown's Formalist ApproachTo fully understand Young Goodman Brown, the reader must analyze the story using the formalist approach. In class, we described the formalist approach of using allegory, historical context, allusion, and symbolism to interpret a work. By using these methods of interpretation, the story became clearer to me because I understood some of the historical context on which the story was based, as well as the meaning of certain symbols, which I was previously unaware of. story containing underlying meaning), there is generally a one-to-one relationship; that is, an idea or object in the story allegorically represents only one idea or object” (p. 59). In Young Goodman Brown, the allegory lies in the main character's desire to follow the wrong path for a little while just to see what it's like, and then return to the good life. He plans to do this by walking with the man into the forest, then returning to Faith, his wife, who personifies his faith. The tricky part about encountering evil is that one has to stray from faith, again this is allegorical of his wife and the fact that he has to leave her that night. The historical context of this story helps clarify why this story is important and why certain things happen. during the story. The Puritans believed in predestination. I learned in American history that predestination was the belief that some people were destined to go to heaven while others were destined to a much less comfortable place. Where he left was up to God and it didn't reflect how righteous the person seemed on the outside. This becomes important in Young Goodman Brown because when he hears and sees people he thought were good people following the devil, he begins to doubt that anything is good. Another Puritan practice was to name their children after traits they found admirable, such as faith, patience, or young Goodman Brown, in the hopes that this virtue would stay with them and prevail in their lives. The use of allusion is also apparent in Young Goodman Brown. The main character's wife is named Faith. This is an allusion to his own faith. For example, Mr. Brown loses Faith when he goes into the dark woods with the creepy guy who walks with a snake stick..