Because the other answer did such a good job of examining the supernatural events that may or may not actually occur, I'm going to focus on the second part of the question: the purpose of the ambiguity.Hawthorne is deliberately ambiguous because his focus is not on whether or not the events of the forest actually took place. In fact, none of that matters, because to Young Goodman Brown, the events did happen and he shifted his entire existence accordingly. Never again could he look upon the townspeople as he had before entering the woods. His relationship with both his wife Faith and his spiritual faith is destroyed, because every symbol of religion around him, from Goody Cloyse's catechism to Salem's minister, is forever associated with the sin he believes occurred.Rather than focusing on the validity of YGB's forest visions, Hawthorne instead wants us to focus on what we know happened: YGB knew that he was embarking on an evil journey, and did it anyhow. Upon leaving Faith at the start of the tale, he says:
"What a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too. Methought, as she spoke, there was trouble in her face, as if a dream had warned her what work is to be done to-night. But, no, no! 't would kill her to think it. Well; she's a blessed angel on earth; and after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven.”
Despite his understanding that leaving on the errand makes him a "wretch," and knowing that Faith would die if she knew "what work is to be done to-night," he leaves anyhow, promising himself that "after this one night, I'll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven. It is this "excellent resolve for the future," as Hawthorne puts it, that represents the most important aspect of the tale. YGB is about to willingly and freely commit a sin. The action is premeditated; he has thought about it at length and is moving forward. However, despite the way in which he and his fellow Puritans view sin, he promises to forever be good afterward. This is not only a blatant abuse of his wife's trust, but a blatant abuse of his own religions covenant. Within Puritanism, people are supposed to be forever toiling in an effort to overcome original sin. Here YGB willingly adds sin, believing that he will be forgiven for just this one thing if he acts piously for the rest of his days. A better act would be to turn away from the behavior that is understood as sinful; instead Brown takes advantage of his god's salvation, playing forgiveness like a card rather than treating it as the sacred gift it is.Hawthorne doesn't clarify if the forest events happened because it doesn't matter either way. What matters is that Brown knew he was doing something wrong, and did it anyway on the vow he would never do it again. He has abused his wife and religion. Perhaps what is even worse is that, like many of those in the society Hawthorne wrote about, Brown doesn't understand that he not only has the capacity for sin, but the fondness for it.
In "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne depicts the titular protagonist as he embarks upon an apparently obligatory journey into the woods one night. When he leaves his wife, Faith, at home, Brown ventures into the woods and meets a strange man. The man represents the devil, and he tells Brown about all of the sins committed by people in the town's history—even by some people who are still living in the community. The devil knows Brown's peers very well, and Brown even sees the woman who taught him his Catechism out in the woods. Eventually, Brown and the devil reach a strange ceremony taking place deep in the woods in the middle of the night. It seems like a satanic version of Mass. There are participants being initiated, and there is a large conflagration. This part of the story is where we see most of the supernatural elements. We are not sure whether Brown is literally seeing these events and people or whether he is imagining them or dreaming. The narrator leaves this ambiguous and instead implies that the effects of the night in the woods on Brown are lasting, regardless of whether they actually took place. When he returns to town, he sees everyone going about their business as usual. No one seems affected. The same people who were part of the dark ritual are now going to church as if nothing happened. Brown, however, is forever damaged by his loss of innocence.
It really is not possible to know whether the events literally took place. However, as the story is an allegory, it is likely that there are literal events (even the supernatural ones) that also have symbolic meaning. The ritual in the woods seems to be some sort of coming-of-age ceremony wherein townspeople realize that part of adult life is sinning or that having both good and bad qualities is normal. Young Goodman Brown, however, cannot function like everyone else in the town once he has this information.
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