ipl-logo

How Does The Minister's Black Veil Affect Society

1171 Words5 Pages

In a quote by Andrew Lansley, it states, “Peer pressure and social norms are powerful influences on behavior and they are classic excuses.” This quote ties in perfectly with the story, The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the story, the main character, Mr. Hooper, lives a somewhat normal life as a priest, until one day, he decides to wear a black veil over his face. After that day, everything completely changed as he was treated differently by his community. The adults began taunting and spreading rumors about him and the children ran away from him as if he were a monster, all because of the black veil on his face. His soon to be wife even broke up with him because he forbid to take off the black veil. As he was near death, …show more content…

In the note on the end of the story, Mr. Hawthorne says, “Another clergyman in New England, Mr. Joseph Moody, of York, Maine, who died about eighty years since, made himself remarkable by the same eccentricity that is here related of the Reverend Mr. Hooper.” Although the story and event aren’t exactly the same, they have the same concept with the same message. tory and event aren't exactly the same, they have the same concept with the same message. For Mr. Joseph Moody, "he accidentally killed a beloved friend; and from that day till the hour of his own death, he hid his face from men" (Hawthorne). Similar to this, Mr. Hooper concealed his face but it was because of isolation and secret sin. What they both have in common is the hiding of their face. They both hid their face because of the sins they've committed. They want to hide themselves from the world and the sins that brought the isolation, even till

Show More
Related

  • The Minister's Black Veil

    1157 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Hawthorn’s short story of “The Minister’s Black Veil”, rumors surround Minister Hooper when the minister shows to church wearing a black veil, for unknown reasons, people start making up assumptions as to why he is wearing the veil to the point that he becomes an infamously famous outcast. The mystery behind the veil and what was beneath became the town’s “topic for discussion between acquaintances meeting in the streets, and good women gossiping at their windows” (Hawthorn 393). Everyone in the town of Milford found themselves question the mystery, always wondering and assuming what is hidden underneath or why Mr. Hooper is hiding behind the veil. These rumors continue to grow, and as he continues to wear the black veil the people start to question him, and their image of him starts to change. Not only were the townspeople’s thoughts on Mr. Hooper changed, but also his personal thoughts were affected to the point that “he never willingly passed before a mirror… least, in its peaceful bosom, he should be affrighted by himself” (Hawthorn 395).

    Read More

  • And Contrast The Minister's Black Veil And Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    298 Words  | 2 Pages

    After reading both of the text “The Minister 's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards they’re various similarities and differences can be noted, especially toward the attitudes of sin and guilt. In the story’s the are just portrayed a little bit different. In both stories the feel that sinning is horrible and should be frowned upon. In the story the “Minister 's Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne wants the reader to know that Reverend Hooper is wanting to hide his past sins.

    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

  • The Minister's Black Veil Analysis

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analysis Essay Of The Minister’s Black Veil In The Minister’s Black Veil the impact of the veil first made the towns people scared and confused. The towns people didn’t know why the minister was wearing it and many assumed that he was hiding a sin of wrong doing. As he walked thru the towns people would whisper and children would hide wondering what he had done. Nobody understood the meaning behind the veil some people criticized the minister and some people started thinking about there own sins and wrong doing.

    Read More

  • The Ministers Black Veil

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    In article two it states; "Mr. Hooper wears the veil to symbolize his mourning for the secret sins of many of the Puritans who fear the severe punishments for transgressions and live as hypocrites becomes apparent in the denouement of Hawthorne's story" clearly stating that he wears this black veil to symbolize the sins of the puritans rather than himself. Mr. Hooper wishes to teach a moral

    Read More

  • What Does The Veil Symbolize In The Minister's Black Veil

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the short story “Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Reverend Hooper sacrifices many things by wearing the black veil. Through his choice in wearing the black veil he sacrifices his social life, his relationship with his wife, and he’s now considered an outcast in his community. By wearing the black veil Mr. Hooper sacrificed many things, one of these things is his social life. In the story a woman says “ ‘Truly do I,’ replied the lady; and I would not be alone with him for the world”(Hawthorne 3).

    Read More

  • Irony In The Minister's Black Veil

    1499 Words  | 6 Pages

    The community then proceeds to treat him as an outcast of society; nobody will talk to him, and everyone avoids him out of fear. However, they continue to talk about him behind his back (Hawthorne 282). They want to know things such as why is he even wearing the veil, what their own minister is trying to hide,

    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 Minister's Black Veil Analysis

    451 Words  | 2 Pages

    He told them don’t look at me by myself but look at each other. Everyone is the same. Everyone ran, hide, and denied him because of the veil, when they should have been looking at themselves. The veil is a symbol of life

    Read More

  • What Is The Reason In The Minister's Black Veil

    559 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hooper was wearing the veil to make people that actually did sin feel better about themselves. He was looked at as an idol by everyone so why would he wear a veil for people who did wrong? Mr. Hooper did something someone of his position was sacred to do and he was scared for his fiancée and his church to find out. As a reverend he was not supposed to sin, and that is why everyone looked at him differently and judged him without knowing why he wore the veil. By wearing the veil, he had to commit another sin and lie to his fiancée about why he was wearing it and he broke their vows as a result.

    Read More

  • Judging Others In The Minister's Black Veil

    977 Words  | 4 Pages

    We also allow ourselves to be judged by others because we are possibly trying to accomplish something. People do what they do for a reason. Mr.Hooper wore the black veil for so many years for a purpose he understood but no one else did. The story said that the veil makes its wearer a very efficient clergyman. I think this is true because he can now connect to all of the villagers,the ones that attend church and don’t sin,the villagers that do sin,and the villagers who are accused of sinning.

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Symbolism

    1158 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mr. Hooper was forcing all of the people to look deeper within themselves and try to understand the veils true meaning “Such was the effect of this simple piece of crape, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.” (Hawthorne 707) In reality, the veil represents the secrets everyone is hiding within himself or herself. The theme of the veil is the conflict between the dark, hidden side of man.

    Read More

  • Isolation In The Minister's Black Veil

    668 Words  | 3 Pages

    What can you expect from a minister from changing persona where people use to see him as a “gentlemanly men, of about thirty, though still a bachelor, was dressed with due clerical neatness.” Then have a change in his appearance where it drastically changes his life. By a piece of cloth over his head accounts reactions of the congregation to it, the veil, a black veil that changed the image and the reactions of the people from Westbury. It is just a man, Mr.Hooper, who Hawthorne is modulating between dramatic incidents involving the black veil and Mr.Hooper approaches dramatic reactions towards it, in the short story the “Minister’s Black Veil”. The key symbol of the short story is the black veil it represented the spiritual isolation between

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Literary Analysis

    993 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the “Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne displays Hooper and the symbol of the veil as a representation of how judgmental society can become when faced with situations they don’t understand even though they have no right to judge. The “Minister’s Black Veil” was written as a parable in order to teach us a moral lesson stating that you should never judge someone. In Paul J. Emmett’s literary criticism he tells of a point in the story when Hooper explains his reasoning for wearing the veil, Emmett says, “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of infinite purity, we

    Read More

  • Significance Of The Parable In The Minister's Black Veil

    1277 Words  | 6 Pages

    Just because he didn’t show his bare face to Elizabeth, she ended their relationship. “...material emblem had separated him from happiness, though the horrors, which it shadowed forth, must be drawn darkly between the fondest of lovers.” (Hawthorne 12) Hooper is thinking about what he has done but still doesn’t do anything about it because the black veil signified something more important to him. “Each character, then, is faced with the prospect of assuming mature responsibilities, and each story is an account of how he responds to this crucial psychological situation.” (Askew 2)

    Read More

More about How Does The Minister's Black Veil Affect Society

Open Document