ipl-logo

The Minister's Black Veil Rhetorical Analysis

469 Words2 Pages

“The Sacrifices of the Minister’s Black Veil” Could a simple black veil take on the sins of an entire community? At intervals, veils are often thought to be worn by a bride in a wedding.For some women in the Muslim world, the veil they wear is a symbol of oppression. In The Minister’s Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses strong diction, imagery, and details to portray the sacrifice needed to take on the responsibility of sin by Rev. Hooper donning the black veil. Hawthorne uses diction to portray how Rev.Hooper deliberately sacrificed his personal happiness for others sins. Due to his refusal to remove the veil, Hooper risks his relationship with his fiancee, Elizabeth. He wants Elizabeth to have patience with him and not desert him during this time because it will not be for eternity but he does not want to lift the veil. As it turns out, what Elizabeth fails to recognize is that even should Hooper remove …show more content…

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 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

Show More
Related

  • Character Analysis: The Ministers Black Veil

    390 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil

    1157 Words  | 5 Pages

    Mr. Hooper knew that his image is frightening to some and was fearful to find that same image looking back at him. This presence he now has attached to his being lasts for years up to and after his death, where the questions of why he wore the black veil are still asked and follow his

    Read More

  • Prejudice In The Minister's Black Veil

    1265 Words  | 6 Pages

    The traits and actions of the townspeople throughout the story show their opinions on Mr. Hooper’s actions. All over the town their first instinct was to avoid Mr. Hooper as much as possible. In response to the veil,“ None, as on former occasions, aspired to the honor of walking by their pastor’s side”(Hawthorne 2). This is significant to the theme of the story because rather than branching out and asking Mr. Hooper about his veil, the town begins to make their own assumption which could potentially lead them into trouble. As the townspeople avoided Mr. Hooper, they failed to get to know the story behind the veil.

    Read More

  • The Ministers Black Veil

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • What Does The Veil Symbolize In The Minister's Black Veil

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since Mr. Hooper will not break to these cries and pleas he is only separating himself from everyone else and society. Throughout the story “Minister’s Black Veil” Mr. Hooper sacrifices many thing by him wearing the black veil. As a result of Mr. Hooper’s actions he sacrifices his social life, he sacrifices his relationship with his wife Elizabeth, and he is separating himself from society by wearing the black

    Read More

  • Symbols In The Minister's Black Veil

    621 Words  | 3 Pages

    First off, Hooper is introduced to the readers as someone who is already wearing the veil, so the reader has no idea who he was before putting it on.

    Read More

  • How Does The Veil Affect The Community In The Minister's Black Veil

    218 Words  | 1 Pages

    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!

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Analysis

    451 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Black Veil Rhetorical Analysis

    695 Words  | 3 Pages

    “In The Minister's Black Veil” his style was more effective even though he got judged on by his appearance. Because people felt like that if he was preacher then why is he wearing this piece of cloth or sheet he had on. ”Mr Hooper fiance had told Mr.Hooper that she wouldn't want to wear it if she was him”. All together they all thought that Mr.Hooper was an awful men because of what he had on. He wasn't really an aggressive men until when he just got tired of everything and everyone turning against

    Read More

  • What Is The Reason In The Minister's Black Veil

    559 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Religious Hypocrisy In The Minister's Black Veil

    2165 Words  | 9 Pages

    While reading this novel, many people have theorized that Hooper is covering his face in the black veil because he has sinned and is unable to handle the remorse that has resulted from his sin. According to an article by Harold Bloom, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” states, Because of the mystery surrounding this black veil, it does not take long for rumors to surface. Goodman Gray suggests that Reverend Hooper has gone mad. During the service, several people leave because they feel uneasy about the minister's veil. Although Reverend Hooper does not normally have a powerful preaching style, his sermon on this day strikes its listeners as powerfully dark, containing “reference to secret

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Symbolism

    1158 Words  | 5 Pages

    The wearing of the veil is a confession of guilt and a suggestion that everyone should do the same. Mr. Hooper really did not understand how much this black veil was going to affect the congregation until raising his glass in a toast for a newlywed couple and catching a glimpse of himself in the looking glass. Right then and there is when Mr. Hooper realized, "the Earth, too, had on her black veil” (Hawthorne 2145). This means that everyone is hiding; most people would not wear a black veil and have no reason in doing so. Is it that the people afraid of what the veil represents to Mr. Hooper or are they afraid of what it represents to themselves?

    Read More

  • Isolation In The Minister's Black Veil

    668 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Minister's Black Veil Literary Analysis

    993 Words  | 4 Pages

    “ 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.

    Read More

  • Significance Of The Parable In The Minister's Black Veil

    1277 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hawthorne has said that "Among all its bad influences, the black veil had the one desirable effect, of making its wearer a very efficient clergyman. By the aid of his mysterious emblem--for there was no other apparent cause--he became a man of awful power over souls that were in agony for sin." (Hawthorne 13) As explained by Hooper in this quote, he explains that the sin that

    Read More

More about The Minister's Black Veil Rhetorical Analysis

Open Document