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In "Young Goodman Brown," what social institutions do Deacon Gookin, Goody Cloyse, and the minister represent?

When the devil points out Goody Cloyse on the path, young Goodman Brown notes that she is the elderly woman of unimpeachable reputation in town who taught him his catechism when he was young; in fact, she is still, along with the minister and Deacon Gookin, a spiritual advisor for Brown.  These three people, jointly, represent the church.  They are all thought to be beyond moral reproach, and they are responsible for helping to lead the community down a righteous path.  It is very ironic, then, that Brown spots Goody Cloyse, and later hears the deacon and minister, on the path because he would never have expected them to be on their way to the witches' Sabbath.  They are the community's best examples of morality, and so if even they are in league with the devil, it seems that there can be little hope, if any, for anyone else to maintain innocence.


Their guilt also seems like an indictment of Puritan society by Hawthorne.  If even the most moral folks in this community are corrupt, then that says nothing positive about Puritans: instead, they seem hypocritical and false.

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