In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, “Young Goodman Brown”, we see and feel the loneliness/isolation of the protagonist, Goodman. Isn't this loneliness a reflection of the author's own life? Early in the story we see intentional secrecy if not outright deception on the part of Goodman Brown when his wife of three months begs him to stay home that particular night: "Dearest heart," she whispered, softly and rather sadly, when his lips were near her ear, "please postpone your journey until dawn, and sleep in your bed to-night. A lonely woman is tormented by such dreams." and such thoughts, that she is sometimes afraid of herself. Please stay with me this night, dear husband, of all the nights of the year!" "My love and my faith," replied young Goodman Brown, "of all the nights of the year. This year, for this one night, I will have to walk away from you. My journey, as you call it, round trip, must necessarily end by dawn. What, my sweet, pretty wife, do you already doubt me? we've only been married three months!" Goodman's secrecy/deceit is an indicator from the beginning of the tale and from the beginning of his married life that he is a loner, an isolationist - one who is not a naturally sociable individual. For most of the story, Goodman is alone with the devil: true loneliness. And at the climax of the story Brown is left completely alone in the middle of the forest: He didn't know if Faith had just spoken, when he found himself in the calm night and in solitude, listening to the roar of the wind, dying heavily through the forest. He staggered against the rock and felt it cold and damp, while... middle of paper... Jo Kinnick "Stories derived from life in the New England." In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1959. 247-56.James, Henry. Hawthorn. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.Kaul, A. N. “Introduction.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by AN Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1995. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne - The man, his stories and his love stories. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.