In the story, Brown walks with the devil who has taken the form of the older version of himself; perhaps it is the form of his father. Brown wants to stop this journey for evil purposes. He says to the devil, “My father never went into the woods on such an errand, nor his father before him” (Hawthorne 1124). The devil interrupts him: “I know your family as I never knew one among the Puritans; and that's not a silly thing to say. I helped your grandfather, the policeman, when he whipped the Quaker woman so badly in the streets of Salem” (Hawthorne 1124). Hawthorne references his great-great-grandfather's actions in this passage. However, he changed some details. William Hathorne was not the officer who actually administered the whippings. He was, however, responsible for the officer's actions. William Hathorne was the major who issued the warrant. The officer was only too happy to comply. In his story, Hawthorne writes that the grandfather is the agent; because perhaps he believes that the fault should be more that of William Hathorne than that of the agent. The agent may have enjoyed the task; however, he was doing what he was