n he suddenly wakes from his dream in the middle of the forest.The conclusion of the story represents the unrest of Brown’s ego for the remainder of his life. The narrator says of Brown, “he sank from the bosom of Faith, when the family knelt at prayer he scowled and muttered to himself…they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.” Brown’s unresolved struggle with his id and superego led to his unhappy and restless existence. When his ego could not provide a realistic outlet for his id’s desires, a multiple of neurosis were created which prevented Brown from having a fulfilling life. The story of “Young Goodman Brown” is an unconscious endeavor into the psyche of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s characters represent the struggle of his id’s sexual desires, the superego’s moral and ethical presence, and the ego’s failed balance between the two. From this failed balance, Goodman Brown is doomed to struggle in Hawthorne’s world of neurosis....
