ipl-logo

Comparing Minister's Black Veil, And The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

1253 Words6 Pages

During the 17th century, the Puritans crossed the sea to grace America with their presence. In an astounding example of foreshadowing, the Puritans set up a patriarchal, semi-authoritarian society based on strangely unforgiving laws interpreted from the Holy Bible. Generations later, Nathaniel Hawthorne is raised in a post-Salem witch trial society amongst Puritans. Hawthorne is devout; however, the unjustifiable actions of his ancestors disturbs him. Hawthorne grew to have deep criticisms of Puritan society, and this became evident in his works. Hawthorne's strongest criticisms of Puritan society show themselves in "Young Goodman Brown," "The Minister's Black Veil," and The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne knows well that no one is free from sin, …show more content…

Puritan belief lends itself to the idea that outward appearance is often an indicator of inward holiness. Unfortunately, that belief leads to this reaction towards Mr. Hooper whenever he wears a plain, black veil: "'I can't really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was behind that piece of crape'… 'I don't like it'… 'He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.' … 'Our parson has gone mad!' ("The Minister's Black Veil" 410). Mr. Hooper's audience even begins to distrust him, leading one to say "'I would not be alone with him for the world,'" ("The Minister's Black Veil" 411-2). Although Mr. Hooper remains unchanged for the most part, the black veil changes his appearance and the townsfolk's opinion of him. This superficiality, Hawthorne insinuates, should not be characteristic of Puritan communities. One common interpretation of Mr. Hooper's veil is that it represents the secret sin everyone bears. However, given Mr. Hooper's treatment, one would be surprised to learn that everyone is cognizant of that fact. The town is made uncomfortable by Mr. Hooper's sermon on secret sin, and so they ostracize him ("The Minister's Black Veil" 411). Even on his deathbed, people plea for him to take off the veil, and instead he cries "'Why do you temble at me alone?'…'Tremble also at each other!'...'I look around me, and lo! On every visage a black veil!'"(417-8). Hawthorne highlights the hypocrisy of Puritans with Mr. Hooper's ostracization. A Puritan is a hypocrite if they should cruelly treat someone because of appearance or sin as both of these are considered unimportant and unavoidable, respectively, in Puritan

Show More
Related

The Crucible Comparative Essay

635 Words | 3 Pages

The Puritans arrived in America in the 16th and 17th centuries hoping create a purified version of the church as they believed the Church of England had still had too many components of catholicism. Humans are also invertly evil and this wickedness is displayed throughout many stories. Finally, moral values are also a central conflict to many stories. Puritanism, the evils of all humans, and moral conflict are a central themes to all three of The Crucible, “Young Goodman Brown”, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Although these stories are seemingly unrelated stories on the surface however when considering the under-the-surface meanings of these stories many similarities appear including the impact of Puritanism, the wickedness of all humans, and moral conflict.

Read More

Similarities Between Huckleberry Finn And The Minister's Black Veil

1165 Words | 5 Pages

Hawthorne, influenced by his Puritan ancestors, criticize Puritanism by the use of symbols and parables. The veil worn by Reverend Hooper in “The Minister’s Black Veil” separates him from society, and from God. Whether this separation is voluntary or imposed depends on how one looks at the situation. Voluntary, Reverend Hooper knows that his wearing the veil will cause people to avoid him, and yet he wears in anyway. It is apparent in that Revered Hooper would really prefer to be treated normally by his neighbors and parishioners.

Read More

Minister's Black Veil Essay

828 Words | 4 Pages

Hooper negatively not only excluding him from events, but also talking about him with others as well as being afraid of him when they knew him for years. An example of the negative judgement being directed towards Mr. Hooper can be seen when Mr. Hooper’s parishioners “neglected to invite Mr. Hooper to his table” (Hawthorne 7). You can already see how Mr. Hoopers friends are excluding Mr. Hooper from events such as not inviting him to sit with them and eat. By Mr. Hoopers friends doing this, you can see how they have taken into consideration only the appearance of Mr. Hooper thinking he is hiding something dark and sinful, in which led them to excluding and being afraid of Mr. Hooper. Another example of appearance defining who you are can also be seen in the parable,“The black veil, though it covers only our pastor's face, throws its influence over his whole person, and makes him ghostlike from head to foot” (Hawthorne 7).

Read More

What Does The Minister's Black Veil Symbolize

646 Words | 3 Pages

He says, “[He looks]around [him] and lo! on every visage a black veil” (Hawthorne 307). This was Hooper’s legacy, to prove that even though they do not wear a black veil, everyone has done evils of the darkest nature, known only by God and themselves. The symbol of his veil is the focal point of the theme and plays a part in contributing to the Puritan setting. Through the use of symbols, Hawthorne exhibits the Puritan attitude toward change in his story.

Read More

Examples Of Alienation In The Minister's Black Veil

1555 Words | 7 Pages

Alienation in The Minister’s Black Veil Country musician, Johnny Cash said, “I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It's still my symbol of rebellion -- against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others' ideas” (Goodreads). Even though he was highly honored and greatly respected, Cash, a country music legend, was always seen as a rebel bucking against the status quo especially through his use of an all black wardrobe. Cash points out how closed minded people and Christians judge him for his all black attire.

Read More

The Minister's Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne

1191 Words | 5 Pages

Hooper is sacrificing his life by ruining his reputation of his as a minister and as a person. People start to look at Mr. Hooper as a different and changed person; this is shown when the congregation says, “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne 176). The congregation also mentions “ The black veil, though it covers only our pastor’s face, throws its whole person, and makes him ghost-like from head to foot” (Hawthorne 178). Mr. Hooper’s veil that he wore was seen as if it took over his whole demeanor and made him into a whole new person. Mr. Hooper’s finance, Elizabeth, knew that people would view him differently and that the veil was not a good look for his reputation.

Read More

The Ministers Black Veil

468 Words | 2 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne's, " The Ministers Black Veil", is regarded to one of the first and greatest examples of American Short Fiction. Like many of Hawthorne's novels and stories the story is developed around a single around a single symbol; in this case, the black veil. There are ambiguous ways of explaining why Mr. Hooper wears the black veil? Mr. Hooper wears the black veil to signify he is wearing the sins of the puritans in the village. Mr. Hooper is a reverend, making one of his roles to listen to the puritans sins.

Read More

The Minister's Black Veil Rhetorical Analysis

469 Words | 2 Pages

He sets a somber and self-pitying tone towards the audience. Hooper believes,like most other human beings, that he has sorrow strong enough to be epitomized by a black veil. Hooper states that he is not at ease with seeing a reflection of himself in a mirror, which apprises that he is not happy with himself substituting for others sins. Hooper is an ironic character because as well as he affecting the community’s outlook of him, he is also immensely affecting himself. Hawthorne uses imagery to depict how Rev. Hooper sacrificed the representation of the veil.

Read More

The Black Veil In The Scarlet Letter

1229 Words | 5 Pages

The mystery and curiosity that a typical old man can bring to himself with wearing a black veil that covers half his appearance. Mr. Hooper the minister with a black veil following him everywhere, has everyone wondering what he has to hide and why he began to wear it in the first place. The black veil itself brought many consequences to his life, specifically, his wife, friends, the people, and the children have a fear. " In this manner, Mr. Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving..."(Hawthorne 14), but yet the protagonist does not remove the veil at all.

Read More

How Does The Veil Affect The Community In The Minister's Black Veil

218 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Minister’s Black Veil” the black veil affects Mr. Hooper relationship with his community in a negative way because it causes the townspeople to push him away. In the story “The Minister’s Black Veil” Elizabeth Mr. Hooper’s soon to be wife gets into an argument and says “Lift the veil but once, and look at me in the face,” said she. “Never! It cannot be!” replied Mr. Hooper. “Then, farewell!

Read More

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Account Of Hypocrisy

629 Words | 3 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne delivers a biased account of the hypocritical actions displayed by Puritanical societies. As a man of faith, Hawthorne knows scripture and religious rules participants are to follow. He argues that the citizens of Boston are hypocritical in their treatment of fellow citizens. They are often portrayed excessively punishing those who are publically disgraced and hiding their own flaws.

Read More

Use Of Diction In The Minister's Black Veil

1096 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the short story, Hooper feels as if the veil projects his sin rather than keeping it secret; “...[A]lthough its function is concealment of sin, it actually, in the minister’s case, functions to expose sin” (Boone 1). Sin is displayed in many ways, some ways are stranger than others. It is up to the sinner to decide if they are willing to protect themselves through withdrawal from society, or by exposing themselves freely to the world while there is something symbolizing their sin on their body. In the midst of Hooper’s alleged sin, individuals became obsessed with what he was hiding, rather than the sins they have been committing. One tends to shun another to take away attention from their own sins; “...they should see their own veils instead of fixating on what is possibly behind his” (Boone 1).

Read More

The Minister's Black Veil Supernatural Analysis

912 Words | 4 Pages

“The Minister’s Black Veil:” Emotional Supernatural Mystery of the veil There are a couple different meanings of romanticism. " Movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity and the primacy of the individual" is the definition of the romanticism in literature. The Minister's Black Veil has characteristics that are unique to the Romantic period, particularly those which are directly connected with Gothic literature. Romanticism was said to be “the search for a world that is not”. Nathaniel Hawthorne expressed romanticism in the allegory “The Minister’s Black Veil” by using emotion, the supernatural and mystery.

Read More

The Minister's Black Veil Character Analysis

1136 Words | 5 Pages

The main character in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Mr. Hooper represents how everyone carries a sin with them but some choose to acknowledge it, while others choose to hide them. People may live for long periods of time and say that they are “free of sins”. The truth is everyone carries a sin with them, they just choose to not acknowledge it. This world is filled with people with sins, they may be horrible, while others are not so significant, and others are shared. When people tell their sins to the world everyone looks at them like if they are the devil themselves, or if one did have a sin everyone tries to figure out what that sin is, forgetting that them, themselves also carry sins, but it is much easier to acknowledge others sins.

Read More

Nathaniel Hawthorne Beliefs

1016 Words | 5 Pages

A distinguished and respected author, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote classic American fiction in a dark romantic style that was shaped by his upbringing and surroundings. He was brought up in a strictly Puritan household in Salem, Massachusetts. Hawthorne’s writing reflects his religious background, which he many times grapples with. This is accredited to his Puritan upbringing, as one of his ancestors “presided over the Salem witchcraft trials, 1692,” (Reuben). Hawthorne’s stories are usually “set in colonial New England [his birthplace] and is heavily weighted with the moral complexity of his Puritan background,” (American Literature).

Read More

More about Comparing Minister's Black Veil, And The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Open Document