Devon Greene Naomi West January 23, 2015 Seventh Period The Minister’s Black Veil Essay The Minister’s Black Veil is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main character in this short story is Minister Hooper who is around 30 years old. One day, Mr. Hooper began to wear a black veil with no definite explanation. The veil made the people in his community uncomfortable and they disliked the veil immensely. Mr. Hooper wore this veil to expose and raise awareness on everyone in his community’s sins. The first example as to why Mr. Hooper is wearing the veil was the reference to secret sin that he addressed the day he began to wear it. Secret sin is sin that we hide from our loved ones and our closest friends. This sermon in particular captivated the audience because of the mystery surrounding the veil but it also made them extremely uncomfortable. For example, Hawthorne states “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 thought.” This passage from Hawthorne displays the amount of discomfort from the congregation, they felt violated, the response from Mr. Hooper wearing the veil was outright fear and it was almost as if he looked inside them and discovered their innermost thoughts and sins. …show more content…
Hooper is wearing the veil is seen in his conversation with his plighted wife, Elizabeth. In the discussion with Elizabeth Mr. Hooper states “There is an hour to come, when all of us shall cast aside our veils. Take it not amiss, beloved friend, if I wear this piece of crape until then.” This declaration from Mr. Hooper leads to the inference that he believes that everyone is concealing something from one another. This stance from Mr. Hooper leads Elizabeth to believe that something scandalous is going on with Mr. Hooper although he is simply attempting to display the wrongdoing of
Mr. Hooper the minister’s is perceived to be a “self-disciplined man”. When he was wearing the veil people in his village believed that he went insane and is guilty of a dark and terrible sin. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face” (1253).The author explains how Mr.Hooper would wear a mask to hide his sins and face which cause people to believe he was awful. The veil becomes the center of discussion for all of those in the congregate the mask all the people wore around others to hide their sins and embraces there guilty. Elizabeth in the story ends her relationship with Mr. Hooper because he will not remove the veil that he's wearing. The veil actually symbolize for the puritans belief that all people souls are black from
Minister Hooper is a very good man, believes solely in Christ, and throughout the story we come to see how his views on religion reflect his humanity and humility. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Minister Hooper dons a black veil that causes an eruption of gossip in his community. The townspeople do not have any clue as to why he is wearing this black veil and see it as scary and devilish. The people in the community believe that Minister Hooper is wearing the veil to cover up a horrible sin. This may not be the case, however, because he may be wearing it as a symbol of his faith.
In “The Minister’s Black Veil” Mr. Hooper shocks his townspeople by putting a veil permanently on his face. The veil is a paradox of concealment and revelation (Carnochan 186). Although it is concealing Mr. Hooper’s face, it is made to reveal the sins in society. The townspeople first believed that the veil was being used to hide a sin that Mr. Hooper had committed. Mr. Hooper says that the veil is supposed to be a symbol of sins in general, however the townspeople ignore the message and still focus on his sinfulness. The townspeople know that they have sinned, but they use Mr. Hooper as their own “veil” to hide their sins. Because the townspeople are so caught up on his sins, they fail to figure on the message behind Mr. Hooper’s action and
One of the reasons behind the veil might be secret sin. Father Hooper might have committed a very bad sin, which he does not want to unveil to anyone. Instead of not telling anyone the sin he shows it clearly on his face with the aid of a black veil. This black veil might relieve tension in his body that has accumulated due to his sin. In the story, Father Hooper says that everyone wears a black veil, meaning that everyone commits secret sins without revealing them to anyone. If you do not express your secret sin you would be keeping stress and tension locked up inside you, but if you express it, the stress and tension will be relieved.
In the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Hawthorne introduces Mr.Hooper as a minister in the Puritan time who is wearing a black veil. In the beginning of the short story, the minister is being judges on a daily basis by the townspeople and eventually dies. Despite how bad the people want Mr.Hooper to remove the veil, he continues to hide his sins behind it. Rverend Hooper is sacrificing everything wearing the black in order to conceal his sin. The prompt asks to analyze and tell how the sacrifice illuminates the character’s values.
The minister replies that the veil could be a “sign of mourning.” Elizabeth contends that the veil could be construed as a sign of “secret sin” and should be removed for “the sake of your holy office.” This dialogue, the longest in the entire story, add layers of information regarding the temperament and motivation of the main character. Mr. Hooper responds with the comment that “if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?'' This answer supports the earlier rationale of spiritual-moral motives behind the veil.
In the afternoon, a funeral for a young woman initiates the rumor that Hooper is wearing the veil because of his own secret sin, one he had committed with the young
In the story “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the reader can infer that Mr. Hooper teaches his community the lesson that everyone wears a black veil and has secret sins that are hidden from others. Mr. Hooper states, “...if I cover it for secret sin, what mortal might not do the same?”(lines 280-281) Normally, a priest would not wear a black veil while preaching in front of everyone. This could have been interpreted by his community as an act of betrayal to God. The reason for that can be that Mr. Hooper might be hiding something and as a priest to the church to covering his face with a black veil can be interpreted as if he was hiding a secret or sins he is not trying to show others. When serving the
This black veil of Hooper’s was not only a symbol of his own sin, but a reminder to each person in his village of their own individual sins. Near the end of the short story, Hooper cries “Lo! On every visage, a black veil,” (248) Which referred to everyone around him, as they are all sinners just the same. It was the point Hooper truly wanted to make with his veil. However, no one wanted to admit it as Hooper had, as it was unorthodox. “You know not how lonely I am, and how frightened to be alone behind my black veil.” (245) Up until Hooper’s death, no one ever worked up the courage to stand with him and admit their own sins. As a whole the Puritans were more willing to leave him isolated than try to understand
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, The Minister’s Black Veil, the protagonist, Mr. Hooper, wears a two fold black crape that covers his face. The only visible part of his face is his mouth and chin. The underlying significance of the veil is to make people recognize their sin and display empathy towards others who have also committed sin. Mr. Hooper’s efforts toward helping his parishioners realize his message sent him on a life long journey behind the veil. His appearances out in the public displaying the veil, his fight with Elizabeth, his fiancé, and the moments before his death, fighting to keep the veil on his face, shows how passionate Mr. Hooper is about conveying the message of what the veil actually is. He wants people to become
The Minister, however, acknowledges neither his own strange appearance nor the stunned and questioning whispering of the townspeople. As a preacher, Hooper delivers a sermon that was as powerful as the rest but, due to his veil, the people felt a certain sadness and mysteriousness in his words. Following the sermon, the townspeople continued to gossip about the mystery of the veil. Mr. Hooper continued to act as always, greeting the children and saluting his neighbors. But, he was met with bewildered looks as the crowd avoided him. As he turned, a sad smile crept from underneath his veil. At this point in the plot of The Minister’s Black Veil, there is a definite turn in the way the people of the town perceive their minister and is seen throughout the story such as in the setting of funeral and wedding. It is the uncertainty that makes the reaction of the townspeople all the more telling of their intrinsic sin and hypocritical nature. While speculating as to what horrific crime the minister must have committed, they overlook their own nature of sin, both large and minor. In times of need, the minister is the one who is willingly called upon, but circumvented when all is good. The townspeople shun him only because of a black veil and in doing so reveal how shallow and unappreciative their faith truly
Hooper by the people of Milford’ as well as how I might have reacted had this happened to my clergyman. I felt that the townspeople acted in a terribly inappropriate manner towards Mr. Hooper’s emblem; regrettably I also realized that I am guilty of acting in the same manner. I travel frequently and I find myself, like the people of Milford, become uneasy when faced with fellow travelers who are wearing turbans or veils. It is amazing how a piece of cloth seems to change fellow humans “into something awful… (this) the effect of a simple piece of cloth” (The Minister’s Black Veil). Mr. Hooper says it best when he cries out on his death bed “What has made this piece of cloth so awful?” (The Minister’s Black Veil). I may brush it up to modern society, but the fact of the matter is that a folded piece of cloth does not change who that person is. As cliché as it is we judge books by their covers, change the cloth and you change the perception of that person to
In “The minister’s black veil” The black veil Mr.hooper puts on is to prevent people from spying on his private life. The veil symbolized that human nature is blinded by sins and they way the town treated him after he started wearing the veil shows that there faith is blind they couldn't understand where he was coming from. “ Mr. Hooper's conscience tortured him for some great crime too horrible to be entirely concealed, or otherwise than so obscurely intimated. Thus, from beneath the black veil, there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which
He knows that everyone else should be wearing a black veil because they are all hiding their secret sin as well. Mr. Hooper feels that his secret sin is a very evil thing and he doesn't want anyone else to know about it. The people in his congregation don't understand why he has to cover his face like that and they treat him a lot differently now just because he has the veil over his face. Mr. Hooper doesn't understand why his people would treat him any differently because he hasn't changed at all as a person, he has just changed his appearance somewhat and people shouldn't judge one another on their appearance, they should be judged on their inward qualities. Mr. Hooper feels that he is doing what is good by shielding the world of his sin and part of the problem his congregation has is that they too have a secret sin and they don't want to own up to the fact that they do and admit it.
In the short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the Mr. Hooper’s black veil and the words that can describe between him and the veil. Hawthorne demonstrates how a black veil can describe as many words. Through the story, Hawthorne introduces the reader to Mr. Hooper, a parson in Milford meeting-house and a gentlemanly person, who wears a black veil. Therefore, Mr. Hooper rejects from his finance and his people, because they ask him to move the veil, but he does not want to do it. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Mr. Hooper’s black veil symbolizes sins, darkness, and secrecy in order to determine sins that he cannot tell to anyone, darkness around his face and neighbors, and secrecy about the black veil.