Question

What does the staff represent?

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

What does the staff represent?

In the short story "Young Goodman Brown", by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the staff represents the devil himself and temptation. It is constantly mentioned throughout the story, as is its serpent-like appearance. It is even associated with the staff used by an Egyptian magi in the Bible when having a contest with Moses. The staff is what makes the devil recognizable:

The   traveller put forth his staff, and touched her withered neck with what seemed the serpent's  tail.

"The devil!" screamed the pious old lady.

"Then Goody Cloyse knows her old friend?" observed the traveller, confronting her, and  leaning on his writhing stick.

Do you think the staff leads Brown onward in his journey or does Brown’s own conscience/mind lead him forward?

The devil is constantly offering Goodman Brown his staff for support while they journey into the woods together. Brown refuses it at first, but ends up taking it at a certain point. However, it is not the staff that leads Brown on. The staff is nothing but a symbol. Its power actually comes from Brown himself, his conscience, his mind. Brown has, symbolically speaking, accepted temptation and sin. Therefore, his own mortal mind will lead him on, not the staff.

What might this say about Hawthorne’s view of Satan?  For example, would Hawthorne say that Satan leads us to do evil or are we perfectly capable of leading ourselves into evil?

That shows Hawthorne's idea that we are perfectly capable of leading ourselves into evil. Satan is nothing but a representation of a part of our own minds. If we choose to ignore him, he will indeed go away. But ignoring him may be truly difficult, since temptation walks with us, talks to us, lives with us - belongs to us. Right and wrong, what should and should not be done, all of that is in our minds and, figuratively speaking, our hearts. It is up to us to decide, not to the devil.