Isolation As Depicted In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Letter

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.

The children babbled of it on their way to school. One imitative little imp covered his face with an old black handkerchief, thereby so affrighting his playmates that the panic seized himself, and he well-nigh lost his wits by his own waggery.” Hoopers appearance leads the town to believe their own interpretations of why he chose to wear the black veil.

He no longer fit in with the people in the village and he didn’t meet their expectations of what a minister should be like so they started saying things about Mr.Hooper. At the beginning of the story when they were in the church and Mr.Hooper began wearing the veil a person

He was very sad for about the first week. All he could do was just sit and watch television for a week. This might sound nice for some people but it is the last thing my dad would want to do. He loves being out and about and round things himself. Once he started being able to do some things himself I took what I had leaned earlier this year and started treating him the same as I did when he didn 't have a broken leg.

People from other places wanting to see him just to see the “minister with the black veil”. Many other dying sinners were always welcoming him to preach all their sins to him before they left their dying beds. “In this manner, Mr.Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summoned to their aid of mortal anguish.” (14, Hawthorne) Eventually, all those stares and reactions towards his black veil made his life miserable and everywhere he sees himself in the glass mirror Mr.Hooper is unable to see himself again like he uses to do before. Among his death bed, his beloved Elizabeth came to take care of him and Reverend Mr.Clark to seek him into conclusion and to help him leave those sins so much he had attached himself to liberate him to the spiritual light.

Mr.Hooper 's whole life changed when he put on the veil and there was nothing that he could do about it but let

In both short stories, “The Devil and Tom Walker”by, Washington Irving and “The Minister’s Black Veil”by, Nathaniel Hawthorne religion is used to expose the hypocrisy of Tom Walker who pretends to be Christian and the Puritan townspeople who judge the minister for exposing his secret sin while sinning themselves. Tom Walker decides to make a deal with the devil for financial gain. Once Tom Walker reaches old age he realizes he is going to hell and tries to figure out a way to cheat the devil. He begins going to church obnoxiously praying and judging the churchgoers for how they choose to practice their The “quiet Christians” would be praying modestly to themselves while Tom would be obnoxiously praying trying to one-up them. Irving compares Tom’s newfound Christianity to his job as a loan shark.

“The Minister’s black veil” The relationship between Mr. Hooper and the Black veil is that Mr. Hooper never takes off his black veil. He always takes it around with him, the Black Veil covers his body except for his mouth and chin. No one knows why he takes it around with him but it was rumored that Mr. Hooper was wearing the black veil for his own secret sins or that he made a commitment to a young woman , He is known as death. Mr. Hooper is known as a mysterious and an evil character in the story. He’s a tormented soul and feels the need to let everyone know by veiling his face, Mr. Hooper wants to keep his identity a secret from other people.

‘Then, farewell!’ said Elizabeth” (Hawthorne 183). Even though Hooper knew he would lose his fiancee. He still refused to lift the veil, sacrificing the woman he loved for his faith. Tim Deines wrote in a literary criticism of Hawthorne’s short story that “Hooper sardonically reflects on what might have been if not for the effect of the veil, believing that the veil ‘must’ be drawn between the most intimate, the most immediate relation.” Deines expresses that Hooper has a belief that this is the only way for him to be true to his philosophy.

Boone talks about how Hawthorne writing how his love is not able to be reached because of the veil. “ Hawthorne writes that ‘love or sympathy could never reach him’ behind the veil. Since the veil constantly signifies and its signification enacts a dislocation from self, love and sympathy--like identity--cannot find a place to rest” (Boone, par.11). Hooper causes this because he has the veil over his face and loses himself, his love, and sympathy. The veil gets in the way of these everyday things.

Udall’s diagnosis are Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). The patient did not meet 5 of the 9 criteria needed for BPD diagnosis. Mainly, he showed no suicidal behavior, no stress related paranoia and no impulsivity. Yet, he displayed feelings of emptiness when he clung to the company of the neighbor’s dog and demonstrated his and Carol’s unstable relationship through their inconsistent feelings, both symptoms of BPD. He did not meet the 3 of 9 criteria needed for ASD, lacking the repeated law breaking, reckless discard for safety, and impulsivity.

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)

Nancy L. Bunge is talking on the topic of how the veil was seen to others, Bunge says, “His veil shuts out happiness, giving a darkened aspect to all living and inanimate things” (Bunge-19). This quote shows that Hooper’s veil brought darkness and unhappiness to many people. In life, we naturally want to be happy, but if something or someone is making us unhappy then we naturally alienate that someone or something from our lives. The veil’s darkness and unhappiness play a big role in the cause of Hooper’s alienation by his surrounding

Hooper is the main character of the story and he is the one who represents a Romantic character in this story, he experiences sadness and depression. Mr. Hooper represents secret sin and humans’ fallen nature. Even if people are scared of him wear the veil, Mr. Hooper never takes it off, he even wears it to his funeral. All he goes through is truly is what the other people also look like, whether they acknowledge it or not. Mr. Hooper uses the veil to hide his face from the world because he knows the sin he did was wrong and if people were to find out, people would look at him and he would be full of more shame.

Sam’s moderate obsessive-compulsive disorder interferes with social and occupational activities and only when he is surrounded by his “mentally challenged” friends or people who he trusts, then his anxiety level decreases. He deals with life his way by following an established routine dictated by his OCD, and any changes to this routine cause to Sam a lot of stress. Affect of Mental Illness on the relationships Sam is a single parent to his daughter Lucy. Despite his mental disabilities and limited knowledge of parenting, I think he gives all his best to his daughter with unconditional love. He says to Lucy, “Love is all you need.”