who is this man in the forest? expline how you know?

The man in the forest is the devil. The first clue is the serpent shaped staff. After they meet he is able to tell YGB about all of his ancestors who did evil things. Cheating and murdering Indians. He also reveals the true nature of the townspeople to YGB. No mortal would know this kind of information.

It is difficult to know for sure but the man appears to be the devil. He is a mysterious man who meets Goodman Brown in the forest and accompanies him part way to the witches’ sabbath. I think this man, devil or not, represents all men and their capacity to be tempted towards the thing they fear most. The man wears clothes any Salem man might wear but of course the Devil can assume any shape he wishes. After this one can delve as far as they want to. Is the man/devil simply an embodiment of young Goodman Brown's dark side? Does Hawthorne suggest that Puritan' in particular are susceptible to the worst parts of man? I'm not sure but I can say with certainly that this strange man and Young Goodman Brown have more of a connection than simply bumping into each other in the forest.