The Minister’s Black Veil Essay

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.

In “The Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: the veil symbolized purity and innocence in Hooper's eyes , however it really symbolized the two “I’s” , isolation from his community, and /village , and Elizabeth , and Mr. Hooper’s insecurities with the veil.Throughout the whole short story the environment began to change because of Mr.Hooper’s veil. For instance , when Mr. Hooper started to wear his black veil , he started getting attention from the villagers.The author expresses that the villagers do not understand and accept Mr. Hooper’s veil. When the villagers saw Mr.Hooper with the veil, their comments already told their reactions to the veil. “ I don’t like it” and he has turned himself into something awful , only by hiding his face” (Hawthorne

Whatever his reason for his odd clothing, Reverend Hooper's veil caused more than a physical separation from the people of his town. The people felt the veil was "the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them" (Hawthorne 256). Their fear and confusion of the minister's motives caused strange behavior and unnatural withdrawal from their spiritual leader.

Hooper evil although he was the same person behind the veil. All the people in town already see the veil related to the devil or something gloomy like him, yet Mr. Hooper does not give up his goal and uses it to teach a lesson impacting people’s lives.

First of all, I imagine that Mr. Hooper wears the veil for his own personal sins for many reasons. For an example, the first article says, “the sin that Mr. Hooper admonished himself over was the temptation or dalliance with a female.”. Meaning, that Mr. Hooper feels

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.

The meaning of the veil revolves around religion and humanity. The first level to understand is that you can't hide your sins from God. It is known in religions that God knows your plan and knows everything you do. This could be a reason why he wore the veil because he committed a sin that he cannot hide from God and he wears the veil as a symbol of a sinner. The second level is that the minister is almost acquirable for the people and the sins that they commit. As a minister is his job to lead people and he might have taken the responsibility to carry the sorrows of the sins that the people committed just like Jesus died for our sins. The third level is the importance of taking ownership of the sins you commit. The sin of humanity as a whole is very intriguing because society always tries to hide and ignore the fact that they commit sins each day. Mr Hooper might have been trying to show the greatness of humanity, sin by wearing the veil and showing the darkness and mystery

Hooper is a character in the short story The Minister's Black Veil. As Mr. Hooper is walking he hears murmurs of the people talking about him, “The people hurried out with indecorous confusion, eager to communicate their pent-up amazement, and conscious of lighter spirits the moment they lost sight of the black veil. Some gathered in little circles, huddled closely together, with their mouths all whispering in the center; some went homeward alone, rapt in silent meditation; some talked loudly, and profaned the Sabbath day with ostentatious laughter,” Mr. Hooper is walking through town in a black veil, everyone is murmuring about his morbid change in appearance, they are questioning him and if it’s really him behind the veil. They’re concerned of his sanity and are frightened of him. In public Mr. Hooper will wear the veil to cover his sin but behind close doors nothing has changed, his wife Elizabeth asks for him to remove the veil but he answers with, "Have patience with me, Elizabeth!

. In his death bed, The minister attempts to take of his black veil but Mr.Hooper puts his hand over the veil in an attempt to stop the minister from taking off the Black Veil. Out of respect, Mr.Hooper is buried with his Black Veil.

When Mr. Hooper shows up to mass with the veil on for the first time, the individuals of the community are shocked that such a great and respected man is wearing such a dark and grim symbol in an honored situation. They immediately begin to gossip about the mystery of the veil. However, Hooper continues to preach. His sermon is

Upon Mr. Hooper's deathbed, another minister asks that the veil be removed from Mr. Hooper's face. Mr. Hooper cries, "Never! On earth, never!" "'Dark old man!' exclaimed the affrightened minister, 'with what horrible crime upon your soul are you now passing to the judgment?" Mr. Hooper then replies, "Why do you tremble at me alone? Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil? What, but the mystery which it obscurely typifies, has made this piece of crape so awful? When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best-beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!" He then dies and is buried with the black veil. (Heath 2146)

In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Father Hooper arrives in town wearing a black crape veil. The town repeatedly voices their disdain for the veil and question why the minister would wear it. That day, Hooper preaches on hidden sin. Although Hooper is only preaching, the congregation becomes uncomfortable with the topic and Hooper’s black veil; “each member (…) [feels] as if the preacher [creeps] upon them, behind his awful veil, and discover[s] their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought” (“Minister’s” 638). Later, the veil continues to be an object of

Hooper wears the black veil as a representation of everyone’s sin is because on his death bed, Mr. Hooper said to those around him, “Why do you tremble at me alone?.... Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil?... the symbol beneath which I have lived and die! I look around me, and lo! On every visage a Black Veil!” By saying this he has put a picture in my mind that in this situation he is not the sinner, he is not the one to be shunned/ ignored, but the people around should be treated the way he was treated because they’re sinners. They all should be wearing black veils, rather than living the lives of

This helps the reader to understand some of the motives behind the veil, however the congregation is still left perplexed. The next day everyone is discussing Hooper’s veil, and the only person with the ability to bring up the subject of his odd fashion choice is Hooper’s own fiancée Elizabeth. Eventually, Elizabeth breaks off the engagement due to the wall, or black veil, that Hooper puts up between himself and the world. Neither ever marries and Hooper dies still cloaked in his sin and in his

Hooper has suffered a great deal for the remainder of his life. Although the minister never explained why he wore it, there was much speculation as to why he did. Adultery, disloyalty, addiction, and alcoholism were just some speculations as to the secret sin he was paying penance for. The black veil has power over Mr. Hooper because he chose to conceal his sin rather than show his fiancee before he lost her. This also tells us that Mr. Hooper is a man of his word because even on his deathbed, the black veil remained on his face. The black veil was a penance to Mr. Hooper because he wore it to show his secret sin and that he acknowledged it rather than discarding it like most of the parishioners did. This united him with the lower class and criminals because they felt like minister harper was on their side because it sowed his imperfections. Yet at the same time, the close bond he had with his parishes was basically lost. The black veil also gave this eerie aura to Mr. Hooper and it made his sermons more powerful to the parishioners who took all his sermons to heart. To the parishioners, the black veil was seen as a dark item that made them change their whole perspective on someone they once loved and