Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown" is a rich allegory of sexual repression. Psychoanalyzing the main character, it turns out that "Goodman Brown" is not simply a battle between good and evil, but also a battle of a more sexual nature. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The tale begins with a picture of Brown's wife, Faith, and "the pink ribbons of her bonnet" (Hawthorne 67). Throughout the story, the image of pink ribbons is mentioned numerous times, suggesting that they are more than just a cute thing to tie your hair with. Clearly there's more to the tapes than that. The fact that they are pink demonstrates the woman's femininity. The fact that they tie, or pin, Faith's hair symbolizes Brown's inability to escape his predetermined role as a puritan husband. The tapes constantly remind him of his "faith". Consciously, or unconsciously, it is the woman's ribbons that refuse to release him. Faith, Goodman Brown's "beautiful young wife," whose "hair is tied with pink ribbons," practically begs him to stay home, threatening him that "disturbing thoughts" will bother her if he leaves (67). Brown, however, asks Faith to be a “good little girl, to say her prayers and go to bed” (68). By saying this he manages to keep his "date" in the forest, thus allowing him to avoid conflict and in exchange maintain control over his emotions. This is an attempt to get her back into a position that her male ego can accept, without consciously acknowledging his sexual advances. This behavior could also signify his reluctance to engage in normal sexual relations because he believed them to be sinful, thus causing an emotional conflict that he could not deal with. Goodman Brown's experience in the forest reveals to him the sexual nature of people. Brown's observance of this is curiously free of revulsion. This would suggest that he is rationalizing his own repressed sexuality and thus pacifying his feelings of guilt by projecting his own deeply repressed ID onto more respected citizens. Brown's insecurities lead him to see that even Goody Cloys, his Sunday school teacher, seems to be vanishing with the help of Satan's staff. The use of the image of a witch to describe Goody also points to the evil side of women that her superego refuses to see under normal circumstances. The man Brown encounters in the forest is indisputably Satan, who almost universally represents the opportunity to satisfy repressed desires and unlock the id. Further discussions with the Satan-like figure reveal that he has had a relationship with all of Brown's ancestors, claiming that "they were good friends of mine...we took many pleasant walks along this path" (69). The man is attempting to reassure Goodman Brown that his feelings are completely normal. The figure of darkness even goes so far as to recall some of the more unsavory behavior of the Browns' ancestors, such as the flogging of a Quaker woman on the city streets. The information that Satan is in contact with everyone Brown has ever respected, up to the governor, suggests that Brown has no moral idol to emulate. This condition prevents him from continuing to repress his dark side through hero worship. Satan's staff "which had the appearance of a great black serpent" is another sexual symbol (68). Goodman Brown dismisses the idea that he was unable to look away from the man's "extraordinary stick," telling himself that "it may have been an ocular deception assisted by an uncertain light" (69). The dark figure.