Nathaniel Hawthorne Sin Analysis

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories are strongly developed around his unique and powerful use of physical setting. Often the location and the time of day of the story speak as much -- if not more -- of the plot, giving a deeper meaning then just the outside world. However, this emphasis on the physical setting is not always present, as in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Instead, Hawthorne here used primarily the psychological setting of the characters (and most of all with Parson Hooper) to create this masterpiece work that creates just as much an impact - if not more so -- than any physical setting could ever achieve. Hawthorne’s gift as a writer who knew the power of darkness is evident in his short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”.

    It is the purpose of this essay to show that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil” is indeed an allegory. M. H. Abrams defines an allegory as a “narrative, whether in prose or verse, in which the agents and actions, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived by the author to make coherent sense on the ‘literal,’ or primary, level of signification, and at the same time to signify a second, correlated order of signification” (5).

What may be found beneath something deeply hidden is sometimes best left alone. Hawthorne develops layers of symbolism in “The Minister’s Black

    Henry Seidel Canby in “A Skeptic Incompatible with His Time and His Past” explains regarding the solitude of Nathaniel Hawthorne: “His reserve and love of solitude were the defenses of an imagination formed by peculiar circumstances and playing upon circumstances still more peculiar” (55). Let us explore in this essay the solitude within “The Minister’s Black Veil” and its author.

The author Nathaniel Hawthorne is a American novelist. Born into a family of old Puritan lineage, both his life and his work were marked by the Calvinist tradition. John Sutherland points out in his book that Hawthorne was in his early childhood when the tragedy of losing a father occurred him making a “[closer relationship] to his sister, Elizabeth.” (85) His early literary vocation forced him to face numerous economic problems, as his works did not give him enough to live. He wrote plenty of novels and short stories like “The Minster’s Black Veil”. Focusing on “The Minister 's Black Veil,” it is a horror story by Hawthorne, published in 1837. This short story has an interesting meaning, impacting the way people think about morals and

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Dark Romantic views shine through his writing, showing that human nature is weak and selfish. Although his plots revolve around misguided people and the guilt of their lives, the guilt stems from their sins that are arguably unpardonable since they affect the sinners’ lives until they die. Hawthorne especially uses the theme of an unpardonable sin in “Young Goodman Brown,” “Roger Malvin’s Burial,” and “The Celestial Railroad.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of both stories The Scarlet Letter and “The Ministers Black Veil” utilizes symbols to show the lasting impact it leaves on the individual and in the community around them. In The Scarlet Letter and “The Ministers Black Veil” both main characters Hester Prynne and Reverend Mr. Hopper both have symbols in which both are of great significance. Hester’s symbol is an embroidered A on her chest meaning Adultery but later changes meaning by the community’s perspective as the time goes on. While in “The Ministers Black veil” Reverend Mr. Hooper’s symbol is a black veil that covers his face in which he never takes off not even on his death bed. Both symbols start off as something terrible, scary, and dreadful by the community’s view, but later reaching further into both stories the symbols leave a lasting impression not only on the individual itself but also the community. The Scarlet Letter is composed of many different symbols but the two that stand out are Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale hand over his heart and Hester’s Prynne A on her bosom.

Intro/Thesis statement: Mr. Hawthorne’s works of fiction “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “Young Goodman Brown,” and THE SCARLET LETTER contributed discussion amongst people. It planted questions in our heads about what humanities’ sinful nature means and how it is perceived. These literature pieces are all connected because of their theme being about secret sin. This is because we all yearn for things that are wrong, that could even be considered immoral. People don’t read these literature pieces for the entertainment value but the constant “brain food” it gives the readers questions they never thought to ask themselves. That’s why it’s so important to read them and also understand them. This is why we must focus on their intertwining themes and what makes them “tick”. There are other themes revolving around all three of these works, but they focus on the theme that predominates and unifies them, which is secret sin. This makes it an engaging topic that takes hold of their viewers.

In the story, The Minister’s Black Veil, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is an american romanticism aspect to it. The story revolves around Mr. Hooper, who is a minister. Mr. Hopper who is a main character changes up the routine in which the minister goes through. Mr. Hooper changes up the scenario, which leads to the people being uncomfortable. What made made Mr. Hooper stand out was a black veil that he wore on his face. He wore this black veil for a very long period of time. Almost as if it was a part of him.There is an explanation for why the minister chose to wear the black veil. There is a deep meaning in which there is extreme meanings behind significant items, in this case the black viel. There is an aspect of art which makes “The Minister's Black Veil,” significant. The details and symbolism within. There is a deep explanation for which applies to this story.

The next piece of Hawthorne’s works that is important to analyze to understand his feelings toward Christianity in America is the story called The Minister’s Black Veil. This work is interesting to study Hawthorne’s thoughts on Christianity because it focuses on both negative and positive aspects of Christianity in America. In this piece a parson in a Puritan community suspiciously emerges from his home one morning adorning a black veil. The community is both curious and frightened by the dark piece of clothing seen on the preacher’s head. Hawthorne writes that the Parson Hooper was a good preacher but with the adornment of the veil, his audience became overwhelmed by the words he was preaching. Hawthorne states, “But there was something,

Curiosity can be an incredible thing as Hawthorne’s own exploration of knowledge led him to discover his lineage’s dark actions against others. This leads him to explore the darker parts of people’s minds and their original sins. From a very young age, Hawthorne’s intelligence was acknowledged and nurtured. So much so that his family hoped he would go to college. He demonstrated an aptitude for journalism from the age of 16. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821 where he proved himself to be a competent, but not always diligent, scholar. He expressed a lack of interest in the professions of law and medicine as his time in college came to an end. He proposed the idea of becoming a writer to his mother. He returned home, only to keep himself in isolation for 11 years. During this time, Hawthorne wrote “Fanshawe”, a novel based off his time at Bowdoin. Time passed and he had begun researching New England history, only to find that one of his Puritan ancestors had “ordered the whipping of a Quaker woman, and another had served as a judge during the Salem witch trials.” It is believed that this guilt of his family history led Hawthorne into analyzing evil of man and the original sins in his works, which was the basis for “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Minister's Black Veil portrays moral corruption and sin by acknowledging the corruption of Hooper, the symbolism of sins within the veil, and the people's failure to address their own sins while demonizing

The work of Hawthorne’s that I chose to critique is his short story titled “The Minister’s Black Veil.” This story takes place in the town of Milford, just southwest of Boston, at a church on the Sabbath day. The parson of the church, Reverend Hooper, leaves his house and walks toward the porch of the meeting house wearing a black veil that conceals his entire face except for his mouth and chin. The entire congregation is immediately in a stir, astonished and appalled by this mysterious veil. Nobody knows why Hooper has this veil on his face or what it means, and nobody dares to question him about it except, however, his own wife. Her attempt to attain answers from him fails, and she results to simply walking out on him because of his refusal to remove the veil. Hooper lives out the rest of his life like this with the veil over his head all the way into the grave, pressing his hands firmly on the black veil when on his deathbed so nobody could have the chance to remove it.

So too do Hawthorne 's short stories vary in how they address sin, but it remains clear that it is the core element of them. Two stories in particular reveal the different approaches to sin taken by Hawthorne. In “The Minister 's Black Veil,” there is a more mysterious and subtle idea of its nature and power, as well as a pronounced support for the idea of human salvation; “Young Goodman Brown,” on the other hand, is a virtually merciless exposing of the most base corruption of mankind, and one rendered all the more horrific by virtue of the Puritan population engaged in it. As the following will illustrate, “The Minister 's Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown” offer varying ideas of sin in terms of an overt or more subtle presence, but the two stories combine to strongly reinforce Hawthorne 's ultimate belief in sin as the miserable and true state of humanity.

“Many of Hawthorne’s works are cautionary tales. His characters often become consumed with the concepts of sin and judgement.” (Hawthorne’s Haunted Heritage pg.1)

The famous American novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne lets us into his relationship with romanticism and his past through his writing of, The Minister’s Black Veil. He revolves his short story throughout a symbol, that he never fully revealed to his readers. Hawthorne’s forebears were part of the Salem witch trials of 1692, and gave him a peculiar view of life and society. He saw corruption in between human nature and rejected the romantic view of human nature.