In the story it is an allegory for evil/devil. As mentioned before, the old man talks to the young Goodman Brown as if he already knows him. Additionally, he knows Brown's family; his father and grandfather (p. 338). Furthermore, this old man knows Goody Cloyse, the catechism teacher; the minister, the deacon and many other good Christians known in the city. Goodman Brown also had the opportunity to see this for himself, as he sees Goody Cloyse calling the old man "[my] old friend", "the devil" (p. 389). This was the old man's hope to convince Goodman Brown that even good Christians are capable of engaging in evil (p. 390). The old man won't stop until he's made Goodman Brown fall into temptation, so he throws his staff for Brown to use and [magically] disappears (p. 390). It is also said that the old man's staff "bore the appearance of a large black serpent", which also symbolizes evil (p. 388). In this case, the devil may not be with him at this time, but the old man had well planned to surround Goodman Brown with evil, the