I believe that Goodman Brown does not attend a witches' Sabbath led by the Devil. The entire thing is a dream, and it did not really happen.
The final paragraph of the story admits to readers that Goodman Brown did indeed dream the events that occurred in the forest.
A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.
Nevertheless,...
I believe that Goodman Brown does not attend a witches' Sabbath led by the Devil. The entire thing is a dream, and it did not really happen.
The final paragraph of the story admits to readers that Goodman Brown did indeed dream the events that occurred in the forest.
A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.
Nevertheless, the result of the dream is that Goodman Brown's faith in the people of his town is destroyed. He can no longer sing hymns in church or listen attentively to the minister. Goodman Brown even shrinks away from his wife. He has lost his faith in Faith. The dream is simply a very real dream to Goodman Brown. That makes sense to me. I've had dreams that caused me to question whether or not I dreamed the events or actually experienced the events.
Science can explain this phenomenon. Brain scans have been conducted on people that have been asked to perform a specific task or imagine doing the same task. The brain scans come back identical. In other words, the brain doesn't distinguish real from imaginary. Dr. David Hamilton writes the following:
Chemicals including cortisol and adrenaline help kick start the body, pushing blood towards the major muscles to give you strength.
But the exact same stress response kicks in when you imagine danger, also producing cortisol and adrenaline and pushing blood around the body. The same chemistry is produced regardless of whether the danger is real or imagined.
Goodman Brown had a very vivid dream, and it became his reality.
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