Sacrifice In The Minister's Black Veil By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Judgement causes people to wear masks. In The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne, people in the community judge Mr. Hooper for wearing a veil. Since he lives in a Puritan community everyone knew everything about each other, and if anyone misbehaved everyone would know about it. Hawthorne makes this evident in the first paragraph when he describes the way the town reacted when he wore the veil to a funeral sermon. In his sermon Hooper states that God is always watching, but the truth is that the townspeople are always watching and judging their peers. ” As he entered the church people became disturbed. He wanted to see how people would react when he did something he normally wouldn’t do. “The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little else than Parson Hooper's black veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic for discussion between acquaintances meeting in the street, and good women gossiping at their open windows. It was the first item of news that the tavern-keeper told to his guests. 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.

“The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is full of many different symbols, but the most notable one is the veil itself. Throughout the story, Hawthorne presents many instances where the veil could mean several things. Some may see only one meaning, however, others may see a number of them. Hawthorne may have been the only one who truly knew what the veil symbolized, but at the same time the fact that the story makes the reader think even after reading it is what makes it all the more interesting to analyze. The veil itself could symbolize things such as rebirth, secrecy, ambiguity.

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

Hawthorne uses imagery to depict how Rev. Hooper sacrificed the representation of the veil. The black veil is thought to represent secret sin. Hooper exposed himself through the veil which caused him to banish himself because he upholds the community's sins. Hooper upheld the sins for the entire community and felt it would be seen as an ethical fluctuation by wearing the veil. He does not give specific reason into why he refuses to remove the veil but imagery used in the parable convinces readers that Hooper has beliefs that he is some kind of

This is very different from Hawthorne’s story, Minister Hooper veiled his face though no one asked him to and that is what scared his congregation. For Hooper the veil embodied sin itself, upon exposing it, he was claiming himself guilty, but his intention was for all of his congregation to wear one, so that they too could understand the truth; judgement will come for everyone because we are all sinners. This cost Hooper dearly, he felt isolated he lost friends, Elizabeth, and the rapport he had with the children. He became lonely, a recluse, fearful of his own image. Even though he suffered in self- loathing it could also be said that he fell into the sin of pride because he could have ended his suffering and Elizabeth’s had he removed in private the veil in her presence. There was one positive effect of the veil “Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the one desirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman” (Hawthorne 642). People in his congregation eventually learned to respect the minister even if it was out of fear, when they faced death the minister was called on: “Dying sinners cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath till he appeared; though ever, as he stooped to whisper

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. Also, Mr. Hooper tells Elizabeth that everyone hides their sin; in a way of saying that if someone else that believes in God can do it why can't Mr. Hooper can not be able to. The word “cover” can be as in the

“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.

Hooper is sacrificing his life by ruining his reputation of his as a minister and as a person. People start to look at Mr. Hooper as a different and changed person; this is shown when the congregation says, “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne 176). The congregation also mentions “ The black veil, though it covers only our pastor’s face, throws its whole person, and makes him ghost-like from head to foot” (Hawthorne 178). Mr. Hooper’s veil that he wore was seen as if it took over his whole demeanor and made him into a whole new person. Mr. Hooper’s finance, Elizabeth, knew that people would view him differently and that the veil was not a good look for his reputation. Elizabeth tries to explain this to Mr. Hooper when she says, “But what if the world will not believe that it is the type of an innocent sorrow … 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!” (Hawthorne 182) People are starting to not want to be around Mr. Hooper anymore because of the vibe that is given off when he approaches. At the funeral, everyone feels like his demeanor is only acceptable for a funeral based on the feelings that are brought to others when he is around (Denies 179+). Denies also mentions “The Hooper-- Hooper before the veil-- had been adored on such occasions for he had always exhibited “a placid cheerfulness,” but

Puritan belief lends itself to the idea that outward appearance is often an indicator of inward holiness. Unfortunately, that belief leads to this reaction towards Mr. Hooper whenever he wears a plain, black veil: "'I can't really feel as if good Mr. Hooper's face was behind that piece of crape'… 'I don't like it'… 'He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.' … 'Our parson has gone mad!' ("The Minister's Black Veil" 410). Mr. Hooper's audience even begins to distrust him, leading one to say "'I would not be alone with him for the world,'" ("The Minister's Black Veil" 411-2). Although Mr. Hooper remains unchanged for the most part, the black veil changes his appearance and the townsfolk's opinion of him. This superficiality, Hawthorne insinuates, should not be characteristic of Puritan communities. One common interpretation of Mr. Hooper's veil is that it represents the secret sin everyone bears. However, given Mr. Hooper's treatment, one would be surprised to learn that everyone is cognizant of that fact. The town is made uncomfortable by Mr. Hooper's sermon on secret sin, and so they ostracize him ("The Minister's Black Veil" 411). Even on his deathbed, people plea for him to take off the veil, and instead he cries "'Why do you temble at me alone?'…'Tremble also at each other!'...'I look around me, and lo! On every visage a black veil!'"(417-8). Hawthorne highlights the hypocrisy of Puritans with Mr. Hooper's ostracization. A Puritan is a hypocrite if they should cruelly treat someone because of appearance or sin as both of these are considered unimportant and unavoidable, respectively, in Puritan

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”, we are presented with Reverend Parson Hooper, an admirable Puritan preacher who decides to start wearing a black veil. Mr. Hooper’s decision to cover his face almost entirely, except for the mouth and chin with that “mysterious emblem” (#) agitated the town of Milford. It incited gossip within the community about him and the reason why he chose to wear the black veil in the first place, which the townspeople thought represented the Reverend’s sins. This gossiping and the rumors that the people created could be considered a way of hypocrisy, due to the fact that they are judging someone else’s sins rather than acknowledging their own sins, which is the message that Mr. Hooper is trying to

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

Hooper’s sacrifice acknowledges that sin comes at a high price, as he wore the veil, he isolated himself from the Puritan society and no longer accepted him as that was advent. The theme of the Minister’s Black Veil is that everyone has a secret sin, dying from others and that no one person can escape sin. “The subject had reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (Hawthorne). Reverend Hooper wears the black veil to communicate to his congregation and acknowledge that he has sinned. He sacrifices himself by wearing the black veil to recognize the sins committed by himself and the others townspeople; coming to terms with bad sins and remaining as part of humanity. People of the time pushed their sinful thinking aside and choose to ignore the bad and sin in themselves. Many chose to ignore the fact their human. Everyone wears the veil, but remains unaware due to the ignorance of the possibility they are sinners. In wearing the veil, Hooper coneys that humanity encompasses many types of sins that can not be

“ 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 black veil has a great significance to the story. The black veil symbolizes the secret sin in society. The sins of humanity are the greatest sin which society hides and ignores. People do not take account of the bad deeds that are going on every single day. This Parable does an outstanding job of doing that because Mr. Hooper goes on with his day normally, but by having that veil on his face it exemplifies that sin is occurring. The three levels in this parable of understanding the symbolism are to first understand what the author is objectifying the most in the parable. And in this case, it is a black piece of clothing that is covering his face. When an author keeps on repeating the same thing over and over again, it has to symbolize something. Secondly, the black veil got in the way of people. Such as, his soon to be wife. 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)

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.