Goodman's guide.

I think that Goodman’s guide said it all quite well when he asserts that “Evil is the nature of mankind.” And I also think that the story illustrates this statement very well. At the beginning of his journey, young Goodman Brown is slightly confused and apprehensive about following this “guide” into the forest. Brown says his apprehension stems from the fact that his father and grandfather never went on a journey such as this in their lifetime. The guide responds with, “I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip's war. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you for their sake." By telling Brown this, he is informing him that his forefathers were not as saintly as he would like to believe. They traveled this road of evil just as young Goodman Brown is about to; this evil that Brown that is about to experience is within him, as it is within all of mankind. Man can fight it, and not be led into the forest, or they can fall into its inviting arms and be led into the forest, it is up to them.