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The Minister's Black Veil And The Fall Of The House Of Usher Analysis

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Both of the short stories "The Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and "The Fall of the House of Usher," by Edgar Allan Poe, deal with the theme of the evil of human nature. However, Hawthorne presents all of human nature as naturally tending towards evil, whereas Poe only portrays certain types of evil, such as the ability for mankind to be incestuous out of prideful, arrogant desires. 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. We first see the connection between the veil and evil when we learn, while wearing the veil, Mr. Hooper became very effective in being able to convert sinners to Christianity. Sinners felt drawn to him because they felt some sort of connection between themselves and the veil. As the narrator explains, sinners said they felt that "before he brought them to celestial light, they had been with him behind the veil." In addition to being able to strongly influence Christian converts, those who were dying felt drawn to him and "cried aloud for Mr. Hooper, and would not yield their breath till he appeared." We later

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