It is surprising, in some ways, to discover how few critics who have discussed "Young Goodman Brown" agree on any aspect of the work, except that it is excellent news. DM McKeithan says its theme is "sin and its devastating effects." Richard H. Fogle observes, "Hawthorne, the artist, refuses to limit himself to a single, doctrinaire conclusion, proceeding instead by indirection," implying, arguably, that it is not artistic to say something that can be clearly understood by readers. Gordon and Tate state: “Hawthorne deals with his favorite theme: the unhappiness which the human heart suffers from its innate depravity. » Austin Warren says: “His argument is the devastating effect of moral skepticism. » Almost all critics agree, however, that young Goodman Brown lost his faith. Their conclusions may be based on the statement: “My faith is gone!” made by Brown when he recognizes his wife's voice and ribbon. I would like to examine the story once again to show that young Goodman Brown did not lose his faith at all. In fact, not only did he keep the faith, but during his horrible times. experience, he truly discovered the full and frightening meaning of his faith. Ms. Leavis comes closest to the truth in her discussion of this story in the Sewanee Review in which she says: "Hawthorne imaginatively recreated for the reader that Calvinist sense of sin, that theory which actually shaped social history and spirituality of early New England. " But Ms. Leavis seems to miss the critical implications of the story, for she goes on to say: "But in Hawthorne, by a marvelous feat of transmutation, it has no religious significance, it is a psychological state which is explored. Young Goodman Brown's faith is not faith in Christ but faith in human beings, and by losing it he is doomed to isolation forever. "Those who persist in reading this story as a study of the effects of sin on Brown arrive roughly at this conclusion: "Goodman Brown became evil because of sin and thought he saw evil where none existed. » Hawthorne's message is much more depressing and horrible than that. The story is obviously an individual tragedy, and those who treat it as such are of course right. but, far beyond the personal level, it has universal implications. Young Goodman Brown, as a devout Calvinist, appears at the beginning of this allegory to be quite sure that he will go to heaven..