What Does Brown Symbolize Deception

Secondly, another problem with lying is its avoidance with conflict, in which Brown ignores the conflict of evil within him, instead of fighting against it. When he meets the Devil for the first time, he describes the Devil as having a similar appearance to him, with a staff that bore a moving snake. Brown tries to reassure himself, stating, “this, of course, must have been an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light” (Hawthorne, 388). Although he knows by heart that the man he is meeting is the Devil, he lies to himself, trying to see the Devil as a simple man and the snake on the staff, which symbolizes deception and evil, as only a carved decoration, moving from trickery and light. We see further examples of Brown deceiving himself
The Devil is a liar and the reasons he presents should never move Brown’s resolve, but Brown unintentionally believes the devil’s lies of how everyone he trusts is under the Devil’s influence. I believe Brown is struggling with himself due to the incompatibility of evil and God’s goodness. He knows that goodness should exist, but evil is so widespread that it seems impossible for both to coexist. I say that part of Brown’s hidden motive to go into the forest is his failed desperation to prove evil can’t exist among all he trusts to be fair and good. Instead of trying to believe that all is lost to evil, Goodman lies to himself again, believing that he and Faith are the ones that matter and not touched by such sin. He doesn’t try to resolve evil by proving goodness is still alive in everyone, but sits down and believes if he avoids such evil with Faith, he can still go to heaven and be
Brown and Faith could have told each other about their true selves and exposed their weakness against evil, yet still have a loving relationship. For example, a loving family exposes to each other their true selves but still loves each other. Nevertheless, there are always a cost in being honest, as both parties, regardless of who the liar would be, is going to be harmed from the lies built along the past. Although acting out of the other’s interests, the honesty is still selfish because of the desire to stop feeling burdened with lies and to maintain a relationship. Going back to Carter’s example of the unfaithful husband, Carter states that risking harm to others by being honest is not integrity, but of cruel self-interest. He states that, “without integrity, what passes for honesty often is nothing of the kind; it is fake honesty- or it is honest but irrelevant and perhaps even immoral” (Carter, 376). Although honesty can be something one seems to have, such as Faith’s façade of innocence, it is still a fake and does not contribute any love in a relationship. By the Devil’s words, Brown is immediately distrustful to Faith, who he had supposedly loved during the three months when they married. This quick change of personality of Brown shows how flimsy a relationship can be if the one being loved is an