Walt Whitman

"With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil!"

The word faith has a double meaning. It not only symbolizes that the faith of the general population has suffered and turned false, but that Faith, Deacon Gookin's wife has gone "below", meaning Hell. Even though everyone has pledges their faith to the devil and evil deeds, Deacon Gookin will not be swayed by what everyone else is doing. This is ironic, because although Deacon Gookin is the only pure one of the group, he ends up having a worse life that everyone else in the story. This could be interpreted much, much differently than the writing by Thoreau and Emerson, because Whitman is almost saying that following the crowed is ok, and in the end it will even be more fun.



"Let us hear which will laugh the loudest....come witch, come wizard, come indian powwow, come devil himself, and here comes Goodman Brown. You may as well fear him as he fears you."

This quote is an example proving that both groups should be on an equal level. If one group fears the other group, the fear should be mutual. They are evenly powerful, and determining whith one laughs the loudest would be to confirm one has any dominance over the other.