The major theme of “The Minister’s Black Veil” is revealed in the Reverend Mr. Hooper’s remarks to Elizabeth when she attempts to discover why he has chosen to put on the veil. She assumes that he has decided to wear the veil only because of some secret sin or crime, but as part of the development of the major theme, he tells Elizabeth that his veil is additionally a “symbol.” When said in Source 2 “As the story progresses, the exact meaning of the veil as a symbol becomes clear. In his interview with Elizabeth, the Reverend Mr. Hooper suggests that all mortals could cover their faces just as he has because all have some secret sin or sorrow.” This means that the black veil may have something to do with secret sins, in how even though it may …show more content…
Web. 17 Nov. 2015
Some middle school teachers believe that the symbol is that he hides behinds behind his sins and that he has sinned more than once, he believes by hiding behind a black veil people can see that he has done wrong. One also could theorize that Mr. Hooper committed an act of adultery. That was the biggest type of sin for a man like that. By wearing his black veil it shows a sign that he knows he did wrong and he shows the community that he has sinned but he won’t admit what he’s done. I’ve learned that when hiding behind a black veil Mr. Hooper shows that he has sinned and he tries to show that everyone has sins, everyone keeps some of their sins to themselves and people choose to keep them to themselves. As Mr. Hooper calls it “secret sin” he tries to teach people how even though you may think nobody knows, you know. It being that nobody will know, doesn’t make it
…show more content…
well, romanticism is when an author or a writer shows emotion in a short story and also proves some kind of point to the reader. They try to teach the reader some type of moral in the story. In the story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, by Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar tries to show that beneath the black veil he has sinned, by wearing the black veil he shows everyone how we all look because we all have secret sin even if we don't all wear black veils on our faces. Mr. Hooper has left us without really telling us what he has done but he left us with the impression that he has committed adultery. He feels ashamed and later on he dies without confessing about what he’s done. Mr. Hooper also fits all the characteristics of a romantic character. He is not afraid to admit that he has sinned and he actually tells people what he’s done, by wearing the black veil. We also know that he has sinned but a characteristic of a romantic character is that we don’t know everything about him and their are still some things we don’t know about him that could really change our perspective on him. As source 4
Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil" embodies the hidden sins that we all hide and that in turn distance us from the ones we love most. Reverend Hooper dons a black veil throughout this story, and never takes it off. He has discerned in everyone a dark, hidden self of secret sin. In wearing the veil Hooper dramatizes the isolation that each person experiences when they are chained down by their own sinful deeds. He has realizes that symbolically everyone can be found in the shadow of their own dark veil. Hooper in wearing this shroud across his face is only amplifying the dark side of people and the truth of human existence and nature.
Mr. Hooper has an effect on people by wearing the veil and he uses it to express his original purpose. Everyone on Earth has sinned, “for the Earth, too, had on her Black Veil.” This shows that Mr. Hooper believed that sin is a part of nature and it is a natural thing to be sinners. Even Earth, His own creation, is hiding her secret under a black veil. Hawthorne says this to show Mr. Hooper’s point that people have an inborn sinful nature and it is not always represented by literally wearing a black veil. In other words, he says that even people who do not wear a black veil equally have secret sins, “If I hide my face for sorrow, there is a cause enough…and if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?” People hide their real self to prevent being criticized by society and because they are ashamed of what they have done. He pays a high price in the attempt of teaching society the nature of sins. The people who used to admire him are now afraid and confused so he is forced to live a lonely live. Following this further, he influences people to believe the moral lesson behind his decision of wearing the veil. He wants people to
In "The Minister's Black Veil," Mr. Hooper, the village minister, begins daily wearing a black veil for mysterious reasons. While a veil typically symbolizes mourning and sorrow, the villagers saw the veil as representing so much more though they were unsure of what. The veil both terrifies the villagers and makes them feel drawn to Mr. Hooper. As the story progresses, we learn that Mr. Hooper used the veil to symbolize the evil natures that all human beings try to hide.
The story “The Minister’s Black Veil” is symbolic of the hidden sins that we hide and separate ourselves from the ones we love most. In wearing the veil Hooper presents the isolation that everybody experiences when they are chained down by their own sins. He has realized that everybody symbolically can be found in the shadow of their own veil. By Hooper wearing this shroud across his face is only showing the dark side of people and the truth of human existence and nature.
Hooper wore the black veil to symbolized secret sin; this veil represented how everyone has something in their heart that no one knows about." I mainly stuck to this article because it supports my argument by a landlside. The quote is saying her (the authors) thought as to why Mr. Hooper wore the veil. Everyone has their own personal secret. The author, Searis West, explains throughtout this entire article is that he wore it for his own personal issues. The townspeople think that he wears it to bother them only because he doesn't say what the reason was to anybody. He made a promise to God which he swore to secrecy. The author thinks that Mr. Hooper wears this veil because of the audltery he was accused of with the young girl. Maybe, Mr. Hooper wore this because of
In “The Minister’s Black Veil” Minister Hooper hides his face with a black veil one day and does not remove it, because, he says everyone has a secret sin. The veil makes him seem more dark to the people attending the church. He refuses to remove the veil for anyone and will not give a reason as to why he is wearing it. People start to think that since he isn’t removing or giving a reason why he is wearing the veil that he is hiding an extremely dark sin.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil," Mr. Hooper, a Reverend in the town of Milford, surprises his parishioners by donning a conspicuous black veil one Sunday. The town is visibly spooked, yet still curious, about his eerie appearance and profoundly affected by his sermon on secret sin. "A subtle power was breathed into his words. Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought" (2432). The parishioner's expect that Hooper will only don the veil for one day and then remove it, having used the visage to make his point on secret sin, but they are taken aback to
The story, "The Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorn is a historical fiction short story. One day in the story, the town's minister, Parson Hooper, walks into church with a black veil covering an immense amount of his face save for his mouth and chin. For years he refuses to take it off, even after he is on his deathbed, no matter the countless number of people he loses from his life because they think the veil may be demonic. The black veil in the story may symbolize guilt as he may have done something awful and can't bear to show his face.
Many people look at him in a strange way because that black veil usually represents a bad sign that is dark. Many people thought that he was wearing the black veil because he had killed someone or done some other bad and dark things. But Mr Hooper does not wear it because he killed someone. There is a Priest that is known to wear a black veil But he did not wear it because he killed someone in a bad way. He will wear it because he did kill someone, but it was unintentional, it was his friend and he killed him by accident and he felt really bad and sorry about it that he decided to wear a black veil for the rest of his life in memory of his friend that he will remember for the rest of his life. in ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 337) it introduces him wearing the black veil, and in ( Nathaniel Hawthorne 338 ) they explain the secret scene which it is not what people thought that it would be they were thinking a whole different thing. I personally was thinking a different bad reason why he was wearing that, I was thinking that he had killed someone.
Hooper having a sin, the veil is mostly used for hiding very secret scenarios he had to deal with or know. In other words, the black veil represents secret sins of others but can be also for himself. In Article III, Searis West stated, “I look at the black veil in two ways, meaning that he could be mourning her death or he actually did commit adultery and feels bad…”. The black veil can have different meanings for Mr. Hooper, mainly in a negative way including hiding his face. Mr. Hooper, in others description, could’ve sinned as part of human nature. The problem with that is sinning is still occurred regardless and human nature doesn’t simply drop the fact that has
The Black veil could have symbolized a secret sin because he didn't want to tell anybody about the sin so he just hid his life behind a black veil. The black veil can hide a sin because if someone sins and it is horrible and they don't want anybody to find out they go into depression and that's what Mr. Hooper went through but he went through life with a black
The most blatant thing the veil could symbolize is hidden sin. The minister may be wearing it due to something he committed in his past, that he is guilty of and he wears the veil as a symbol of that. The veil also may could be symbolic for the minister’s pride. He wears the veil and continues to wear it because he has a superior attitude towards the people in his congregation. The
One woman even swears the corpse of the girl reacts to him. Hawthorne writes “Could Mr. Hooper be fearful of her glance, that he so hastily caught back the black veil?” Hawthorne uses the black veil to symbolize secret sin and its consequences (Emmett). This is reinforced by the fact that Parson Hooper’s sermon is all about that very topic. While Hawthorne never reveals what exactly Hooper’s sin was, he writes in a footnote about a Joseph Goody from York Maine who had died eighty years earlier. Goody had also covered his face with a black veil because he accidentally murdered his friend earlier in his life. (Hawthorne) This reveals that Parson Hooper is certainly hiding something, but at least it isn’t that he murdered someone.
In the story ‘’The Minister and The Black veil’’ The minister Mr. Hooper did have a sin. Throughout the whole story the big question was he wearing the black veil to hide his secret sin or to set an example for the humans. There were many clues about if Mr. Hooper had a sin our not like in article 3 it said something about him wearing the black veil to a young women funeral and there were rumors of him cheating with this woman. Also he was too afraid to show his face to his fiancé because he doesn’t want her to see his face. That was the key to open the door.
Moreover, the symbol of secret sin also appears in “The Minister’s Black Veil.” When the people of the town first saw Mr. Hooper wearing the black veil, they were all wondering why he would wear such thing. To Mr. Hooper, the black veil means deceit and sins to those who can not separate themselves from their sins. One example is when he is wearing the black veil to the wedding, and everyone is kind of skeptic about why he is wearing it but in reality, he wore it to remind everyone of their sins. Because of this, people call him evil, and he soon became an outcast. The black veil can also represent his own sin that he committed in the past in which he can never forgive himself. Symbols for secret sin are once again used in Nathanial Hawthorne’s works.