Final answer:
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" is a commentary that encourages readers to reflect on their value systems and religious beliefs, and it delves into the internal conflicts and hypocrisy within a Puritan society.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown" is a social commentary in that it moves readers to question their surroundings, value system, and religious beliefs. The story is set during the Puritan period in Salem Village, and it follows Goodman Brown's journey into the forest and his encounters with a series of troubling revelations about his community and himself. These encounters primarily reflect Brown's internal conflict between his perception of the purity and piety of his community and the potential for evil within them, as well as within himself. Hawthorne uses this narrative to highlight the hypocrisy and the hidden sins in a society that prides itself on religious righteousness.