Minister’s Black Veil Symbolism In the short story The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne proposes that people are hiding their sins and not accepting them through the symbolism of the black veil. People are uncomfortable by Mr.Hooper’s veiled appearance in the church because they feel he knows their sins. Everyone has hidden sins and now with the company of the veil, scandals seem to be out in the open. Hawthorne describes the disgust of the veil, “They shuddered at the veiled face so near...”(Hawthorne 63). Hooper being so close to them with his face veiled, the people felt as if their sins were dangling over them. Nobody wants others to know about the shameful things that they have done or are doing, especially not a minister. Hooper
After reading the Ministers Black Veil we cannot assume that Hooper, the main character, has committed a dark and secret sin. We are, however, free to assume that Hooper is wearing the veil for a reason, one that may be greater than himself. The veil is a symbol of many things, all revolving around public hypocrisy. The townspeople are quick to judge The Minister for wearing such a sinful crape but they themselves overlook their own sins amongst the chaos of speculating the different crimes he must of committed to be wearing the 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 “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
The Minister Black Veil Mr. Hooper put on the black veil, which changed his life until death. Although, the town knew him before the veil, their feeling changed drastically after the veil. It is human nature to judge one’s feelings by someone’s facial expressions and body language. Mr. Hooper was trying thorough symbolism to show that everyone has something to cover up. In the end, Mr. Hooper life was lonely and sacrificed, by choosing to wear the veil.
This being another reason he his wearing the black veil, although it is never clearly stated why he is wearing the black veil. In the "Ministers Black Veil", I believe Mr. Hooper wears the black veil to show the sins of the puritans in the village. I believe this because there are more facts to support this reason. It is stated throughout all of Article Two and throughout some of Article One.
They cannot look at him without seeing the veil, and thus seeing their own sins staring back at them, so they avoid him and no longer treat him with the same kindness and openness from the past. The article "Beyond the Veil: A Reading of Hawthorne’s ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’,” by Elaine Barry further supports this view. Barry claims that “the veil…incorporates the paradox of Mr Hooper's role in the story so that he is simultaneously the black veil and sin.” (125) Barry is claiming that the veil brings in a paradox, which is a statement or situation that may be true but seems impossible or difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics, between the minister and the black veil. This paradox that Barry is referencing is that the black veil represents secret sin, and that the minister represents secret sin while also representing the black veil.
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!
The people were frightened because the veil made them look at the minister in a dark way wondering what secrets he might be hiding behind the veil. The Minister was trying to get the people to look at there own secret sins for one reason. He wanted the people to seek forgiveness for these sins. He wanted them to remove there own personal veil and realize the
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.
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. People may live for long periods of time and say that they are “free of sins”. The truth is everyone carries a sin with them, they just choose to not acknowledge it. This world is filled with people with sins, they may be horrible, while others are not so significant, and others are shared. When people tell their sins to the world everyone looks at them like if they are the devil themselves, or if one did have a sin everyone tries to figure out what that sin is, forgetting that them, themselves also carry sins, but it is much easier to acknowledge others sins.
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.
The veil that the minister wears in "The Ministers Black Veil", by Nathanial Hawthorne represents both the minister’s isolation from society and also his connection to society through sin. This symbolism of the veil is no immediately obvious, but later on throughout the story becomes noticeable. In the story when the minister, Mr. Hooper first walks out of his house wearing the black veil, everyone was startled. No one quite understood why the minister would be wearing this veil for no specific reason.
The Minister’s Black Veil: Dark and Twisted Veil During the 12th year that I have been studying, I have come across The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne. More importantly, there are parts of the story where I picked up characteristics of American Romanticism. Throughout the story, I have come across dark and twisted characters with abnormal actions that caught my eye which was Mr. Hooper. There are levels to understand the parable Hawthorne illustrates which come from personal experiences, life lessons, and commonness. More importantly, the symbol for the veil makes modifications of the story that leads to romanticism.
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.
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.