The mysterious usage of the black veil from the minister will make a great difference in the thoughts of the community. “ ‘But what has good Parson Hooper got upon his face?’ cried the sexton in astonishment”(341). Many will also question why the minister, Mr.Hooper, is using a black veil. To the eyes of people, the black veil is telling or to better say the people have inferred that Mr.Hooper is hiding something behind the veil. Whatever it is that the minister is hiding it is a very mysterious thing because it makes everyone talk about it how it give him a totally different way. Mr. Hooper makes everyone think about their secret sinss by saying things that they do not understand.
In the community, the townspeople believe that since the minister is wearing this veil he has something to hide. These people don’t want anyone to know their sins, causing them to wear a “mask”. Since they are living in a Puritan community they believe that no one should do anything wrong, and if they do, no one should know about it. When people hide who they really are, they become scared of what will happen when people find out that they have sinned. Being true to yourself and to others is the main theme in this
The Minister’s Black Veil is a story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It tells the story of a minister named Parson Hooper. He shows up to church on the Sabbath with a black veil covering his eyes. The townspeople begin to spread rumors about Mr. Hooper. They assume he is wearing the black veil due to sorrow or a secret sin. Hooper tells his girlfriend that the veil is for neither of those reasons; the veil must never come off, not even for her. Hooper continues to do what he always does, such as: preach sermons, greet the children, and chat with the neighbors. The veil gets Hooper some weird looks and the people that once adored him, now avoid him. The only thing seen under the veil is a sad smile that creeps its way in.
“The Minister’s Black Veil” is arguably one of the most famous short stories in the history of American Literature. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an extremely well known writer who is recognized for his many works. From The Scarlet Letter to The House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne’s exceptional literary skills are portrayed in each and every one of his stories. In his short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses irony, symbolism, and stereotypical Puritan beliefs and behavior to expose humanity’s hypocrisy in an effort to create change.
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!” said Elizabeth.” leaving Mr. Hooper. Due to Mr. Hooper’s actions it causes him to separate from someone who he really cares for and leaving him by himself alone with nothing else just Mr. Hooper and his black veil. Forcing him to feel lonely and isolated from everyone else. In lines 320-330 from the story it states “It grieved him to the very depth
In the parable "The Minister 's Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne aims to expose the deceitful pretense that members of society base their lives on. Hawthorne discloses the way people hastily judge one another based on looks, appearances, and behavior. He unveils the hypocrisy of society and the way it alienates whoever defy the norms or risk to uncover the covert. He reveals the moral of his allegory in a very ambiguous way through Reverend Hooper belief that everyone has a secret sin that he keeps to himself hidden from others, but certainly not from God. He uses The Black Veil on Reverend Hooper’s face as an emblem to provide evidence to support the notion that all humans are sinners in disguise. Reverend Hooper’s veil symbolizes the wall
“Beloved and respected as you are, there may be whispers, that you hide your face under the consciousness of secret sin. For the sake of your holy office, do away this scandal!” This quote is very important as it mentions Reverend Hooper’s problem with sins and sinners. The short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil” was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne's story proves that the veil dramatizes that everyone has a secret sin and we should not judge others when analyzing Mr. Hooper’s dialogue and the feelings of the townsfolk.
How willing are you to give up your whole life and reputation to help others by proving a point? In “The Minister 's Black Veil” Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about a minister named Mr. Hooper who changes his whole life to try to show the people in his congregation that they are living in sin and need to change their ways. The author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born around the time when Puritan life was the norm and everyone was a Puritan. Hawthorne also admired his ancestor’s ways and their lifestyles as much as he felt the need for people to have the freedom to strongly disagree about something (Grant). Grant says, “ It is this rich combination of his ancestral soil, a strong sense of the richness of the American past, and that moral quality” which
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.
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 new that throughout his life of trying to get many people to understand why he did such thing like of the black veil. They would never understand why so and/or overpass through the negative reactions of the people towards him for wearing the
Through clear character dialogue and textual evidence, Hawthorne’s story says everyone has a Black Veil that they are hiding under. Hawthorne writes, “ ‘There is an hour to come,’ said he, ‘when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape till then’ “ (Hawthorne XXX). This quote is from Mr. Hooper, and is saying that he will not take off his literal veil, until everyone else takes off their symbolic veil. The symbolic veil represents what people hide from from everyone else. When Mr. Hooper lay dying, Hawthorne wrote, “ ‘I look around me, and, lo! On every visage a black veil’ “ (Hawthorne XXX). This quote is even more
In "The Ministers Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne "The reason that it is difficult for the congregation and even his fiancée to look upon him is that they only see the veil. "The minister is hiding his face because he is afraid that what he is hiding will show to the people of the church and his fiancée. Mr. Hooper is wearing the veil because he committed a sin; and is hiding it from the town and his church
“ We magnify the flaws in others that we secretly see in ourselves” -Baylor Barbee. In “ The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character Reverend Hooper is alienated by his community because he is the wearer of a mysterious black veil. Reverend Hooper is the reverend of his community’s church and has always been well respected by his surrounding peers. One day, Hooper shows up to his church and preaches the sermon wearing a mysterious black veil causing his peers to alienate him. Throughout the story, Hooper’s actions portray just how judgmental our society really is. 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.
In The Minister’s Black Veil, the veil holds different meanings for the minister and for the people in his congregation. The congregation starts out confused about the meaning, and even though they get hints of the meaning over the years, they never understand it fully, and their obsessive fear of the minister continues even though he remains a good and harmless person. The minister seems to know what the symbolic meaning of the veil is, although he only reveals it slowly in bits and pieces until the climactic scene on his deathbed. He, too, views the veil with fear, because he sees it as a symbol of the secret sin in himself and everyone. In addition to the meaning the veil holds for the congregation and for the minister, it is important to consider the effect of the veil on the relationship between the two. Hawthorne seems to be saying that the minister’s perception of the sin in all people puts up a barrier between himself and everyone else and ruins his life.
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.