Puritan Symbolism In The Minister's Black Veil

“ 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.

“Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.” That is a quote the novel, The Scarlet Letter, a novel written during the Romanticism era of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of The Scarlet Letter and the Minister’s Black Veil. The Scarlet Letter takes place in the 1600s in the Puritan town of Boston. Hester Prynne is the main character, and the subject of humiliation after she is caught committing adultery and gives birth to a child, Pearl.

A Sinner Black Veil In the story “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the reader can infer that Mr. Hooper teaches his community the lesson that everyone wears a black veil and has secret sins that are hidden from others. The author states that “if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” In addition, Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil puzzles his community. The reason for that is that a priest does not wear a black veil and preaches in front of everyone in an act of betrayal of the belief in Jesus.

The ambiguity of the symbolism of the veil in Nathaniel Hawthorne's parable of The Minister's Black Veil, not only leaves the congregation guessing what the veil means, but it leaves the reader wondering what exactly the veil represents too. While giving a sermon on secret sins that people hide away, minister Hooper wears a black veil that conceals his face. He then wears it to a funeral and a wedding, making his congregation question what his motive is. The minister never takes off the veil even refusing to take it off at his death-bed. Throughout the story, Hawthorn offers indications of what the veil could symbolize, but there is never full disclosure of what exactly the veil represents, leaving readers to come up with their own hypothesis

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.

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 First of all, Mr. Hooper is hiding behind the veil to ensconce his sins is because it is bigger than all the other sins everyone else has admitted. The article said that it could be him hiding a inclination he is having for a female.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil, Hawthorne reveals how sacrifice illuminates a person’s values by allowing Mr.Hooper to lose his dignity to prove a point to his community about his beliefs, through wearing a veil over his eyes to symbolize not only his sin but the sin of his community.

"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a parable written to ponder the mind of the reader and to make them realize many aspects of life. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. This early American Romanticism story is about a Minister named Parson Hooper who, wore a black veil on his face, covering it entirely. He lived in a small little village, where he was the Minister and soon he started to wear a black veil for the multiple reasons but the most important reason is articulated several times in the parable. American Romanticism is an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement.

In the early ages, American Romanticism was spread throughout much of the country. Many types of romanticism were found in many ways of art. The Minister's Black Veil is a parable showing religious or moral reasons. As stated "Hawthorne's tales provides a rich mine for criticism" (Berry). This quote is stating much of the fact that Nathaniel Hawthorne's parable for the Black Veil is relating to this, showing most of the criticism towards Mr. Hooper for wearing the black veil.

Puritan literature largely consists of poems, sermons, and personal journals and served a purpose such as to teach or inform instead of entertaining. The Puritans generally valued religion and simplicity in their society and thusly much of their lives focused on just that. I felt that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s account of puritan society through his story The Minister’s Black Veil differed from that of original puritan literature. While puritan literature was nonfictional and centers on enlightenment and religion in their daily life, Hawthorne wrote a fictional account to describe the puritan values. Because of this difference I feel that original puritan literature is far more accurate portrayal of puritan culture.

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.

In the middle of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Roger Malvin’s Burial,” that analyze the effects of Puritanism on the topics of secret sin and natural depravity, Hawthorne states “...but pride, the fear of losing her affection, the dread of universal scorn, forbade him to rectify this falsehood.” Reuben, who has arrived at this juncture on whether to tell Dorcas the truth about her father or to keep telling her a lie, fears losing his wife along with her love if he tells her that he, in fact, did not bury her father. A common theme is evident throughout Hawthorne’s short stories, which is that Puritanism causes negativity and fear through pointing out other people’s imperfections and disposing of them. Influenced by an opposition to Puritan ideology, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Roger Malvin’s Burial” illustrate how secret sin and natural depravity control the lives of the characters with fear and negativity.

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!