Young Goodman Brown Essay: The Human Psyche Young Goodman Brown offers unique insight into the human psyche. Through psychoanalysis, the text shows how humans are easily manipulated when they are tempted to succumb to a primitive desire. The text shows Goodman Brown, a Puritan on his way to a religious gathering, is greeted by a strange man who serves as an instrument of revelation about the human spirit. Goodman Brown's pure spirit finally gives in to temptation due to weak human will through the use of a simple device: the strange man's staff. Before the story can move into the main plot, the text must overcome a problem. This comes in trying to show the tempter of Goodman Brown. Although the reader is presented with a “strange man,” this creature alone cannot be the cause of the Puritan’s downfall. If this were the case, the text would imply the belief that man is powerful enough to bring about his own downfall and that one individual's ego could triumph over another. This is not the case. The text must use a method involving an external force to cause the fall of man....