The Importance of Dreaming in Young Goodman Brown Tiny, barely recognizable waves emanate from the center of the shepherd's glass of water with each increasingly solid thud of fists on the podium wooden. Blood rushes to his head with every beat of his heart to fuel the fast and furious fire in his mind. The minister's voice rose louder and louder until it seemed as if the heavens themselves could discern a faint whisper of the good news. The good news told that happy morning was about a man who persisted in harboring guilt, shame, and fear in his heart. It told of a man whose heart resembled that of a man sitting two rows behind the altar in that same sanctuary. The story, having accomplished its task, had already penetrated that lonely and terrible heart long ago, when the shepherd was still firm in his intelligence. The poor man simply sat, hunched over, with the Bible resting on his leg, staring at the glass of water on the podium as if losing track of the ripples might cost him his salvation. Around him sat the city's aristocracy; the rich, the confident, the beautiful, the saints, the righteous and the rest of the Christian faith. Immersed in an absorbed dream, the young man contemplated the minister's words and their relevance to himself. Over and over again, these words pierced and stabbed his heart, causing him to repent of his sinful desires that he had encountered just days before. Suddenly, seemingly without warning, all of his churchmates stood up and began to sing. It was the last hymn of the morning! Awakened from his transitory sleep, he too rose to his feet to praise his God. No doubt, throughout the land men and women sit among fellow followers in the same frame of mind, questio...... middle of paper . .. ...all women and men find themselves contemplating their own repentance and salvation in a capricious sleep. Of course, Young Goodman Brown is no exception! Works cited and consulted Benoit, Raymond. “‘Young Goodman Brown’: The Second Time.” The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review 19 (Spring 1993): 18-21. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1959. The Holy Bible, King James Version: Old and New Testaments, with the Apocrypha http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.htmlJames, Henry. Hawthorn. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997.Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne - The man, his stories and his love stories. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.