Theme Of Symbolism In The Minister's Black Veil

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”.

    There is no end to the ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”; this essay hopes to explore this problem within the tale.

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”, Hawthorne uses plain descriptions that don't confuse readers, which helped explain his meaning of his story shown. “The Minister’s Black Veil” had a strong meaning showing that everyone has a sin that they don't want anyone to know about it. This meant everyone was a sinner and nobody was really a good man. Hawthorne was trying to tell the people that God could see the sins of everyone as he says here “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!"” (4) , so he wanted Christians to be more orthodox and become more pure to prevent these secret sins.

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.

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

The Minister 's Black veil is a Romanticism. A romanticism is a movement in the art which sprung during the eighteenth and nineteenth century.Romantic is used to describe literature. It is defined as a depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form. As well as the imagination and emotion and the freedom embraced are all focus points of romanticism. Characteristics Of this literature piece would include subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism. Solitary life rather than life in society. The beliefs that imagination is superior than the reason and devotion to beauty, the love and worship of nature as well as the fascination with the past.

In the short story The Minister's Black Veil Nathaniel Hawthorne is explaining how mankind is afflicted by the seven sins. The officer of the church is ring the town bell calling all the people of the village to church, when the church sexton sees Mr. Hooper leave his house he stops ring the bell. The people of the town don't like the Hoopers change in appearance they think that he has lost his sanity and no one walks on the side of the street he lives on. Later in the story the their is a funeral for a young woman and the town people think that's why Hooper is wearing the Black veil “for his own secret sins”. The young minister asks Hooper to remove the veil as Hooper is dying. Hooper is brought to his grave, “Many years pass, and grass

American Romanticism was a literary and artistic movement that placed emphasis on strong emotions. Emotions intensified most were ones such as horror and terror, as well as awe. In, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the emotions of horror, terror, and awe are drawn upon throughout the story, which follows the events and reactions of the citizens of a village after their resident minister suddenly starts to wear a black veil, which invokes discomfort and fear into the people. As with many of his stories, Hawthorne developed “The Minister’s Black Veil” around a symbol, which in this case is the veil. The veil represents that even the people that seem like they have nothing to hide or be ashamed of do, just as everyone else does. Hawthorne also makes the point of saying that although people do have secrets that they wish to not make a matter of, others still do not respect their privacy, and may even go out of their way to wonder and discuss the subject of the secret, without confronting the person themselves about it.

In reality the veil represents the secrets everyone is hiding within themselves. The unifying theme is the conflict between the dark, hidden side of man and the standards imposed by his puritanical heritage. Hawthorne brings evil and unauthorized desire into the way of puritan life, and in so doing suggests a insightful truth that is disturbing in its implication, that is to say that we can never hope to know each other's true selves. The themes in the story are suggested by the veil-symbol, the tension between the minister and the community. Every person has something to hide from the world. The veil is symbolic for the cover up of peoples secrets. Although most people would not wear a veil, the minister is proving a point. By wearing a simple black veil Mr. Hooper is making all the villagers evaluate their everyday actions in life. The symbolic value of the black veil lies in the physical and mental dilemma that it creates between the minister and his environment, and the guilt it conveys. Many people believe that the face provides information about a person's primary characteristics, therefore, predicting a persons possible behavior. As a result, by

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 main character of “Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a thirty-years-old parson Hooper who is wearing a black veil on his face. It does not seem much fun but more like it is strange and revolting to people in the story that parson Hooper is having a veil on the face. Why would the parson wear a veil?

Hawthorne’s writing style in the “Ministers Black Veil” reveals his view on humans nature through symbolism of the black veil. Reverend clark and other men encircle the minister and question why he must never take off the vail. Right before the ministers death he gets aburst of energy and proclaims, “When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend…, 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!”(Hawthorne 882). Everyone has secrets that they do not want to tell even their closest companions because they feel guilty and ashamed. The minister tells the clergyman that everyone wears a black veil over their face. Hawthorne writes this intending for the veil to be a symbol of man’s secret sin therefore showing that his outlook on humanity is that people are secretly sinful.

“The Minister’s Black Veil” was first published in 1832 and was written during the American Romantic time period. Romanticism was a time period where emotion and beliefs were valued over reason and facts. Nathaniel Hawthorne can be seen as a writer of “Dark Romanticism,” a sub genre of Romanticism with a fascination with horrific themes and the exploration of the psychological effects of sin and guilt, and where the writers focused on judgement, punishment, and self-destruction. Hawthorne’s use of this style of writing sets the tone of the work as a observation of the nature of sin.

In his various works, Nathaniel Hawthorne addresses the religious themes dominant in colonial Puritan society. Mr. Hooper’s black veil is a prime example on how the Puritans believed it could bring nothing but evil. Like many of his works, Hawthorne brings upon a symbol in which tends to symbolize the wrongdoings of such characters. This is not the first in which Hawthorne uses a strong symbol in his works. For example in “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester Prynne is forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” which symbolizes that she is an adulterer. The black veil can be interpreted in many ways, it’s all a matter of perception.