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Fear Of The Poem In Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit And The Pendulum

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The theme of the fear of the unknown is developed in “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Not knowing what can happen triggers mixed emotions of fear, anxiety, and anxiousness. Humans tend to fear the unknown because life never follows through with the plans that one has in mind. Knowing that unexpected events or tragedies can occur, is what makes humans so terrified of the unknown. The narrator of “The Pit and the Pendulum” fears the possibility of a painful death and torture. In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the main character, Mr.Hooper, fears the unknown possibility of punishment for his secret sins. Edgar A. Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne both convey the theme of the fear of the …show more content…

The black veil that the Mr. Hooper wears during his sermons as minister terrifies the townspeople. The townspeople fear the black veil because it is a symbolic reference that symbolizes their secret sins. The appearance of the black veil makes the people feel uncomfortable and guilty for the secret sins they have committed which makes them fearful of the unknown punishments they must abide to if their secret sins are ever to be revealed. On page 246, the minister reveals his purpose of wearing the black veil, “When the friend show his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! On every visage a Black Veil!” (Hawthorne 246). In this quote, Mr. Hooper reveals that he does not wear the veil for his secret sins, but for the secret sins of the townspeople. People are afraid to reveal their secret sins for the punishment they will receive like Mr. Hooper is receiving

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