The Minister's Black Veil Analysis

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Nathaniel Hawthorne has written many classic books in his time period. Most of his books have some well-written meaning to them. In one of his books The Ministers Black Veil, the message in this story talks about secret sin. Whether or not the main character Mr. Hooper has his own sin or he is carrying the sins of all his people on his back is up to the readers to decide. If it was up in my mind Mr. Hooper is carrying the weight of his own sin, not the people’s sins. Mr. Hooper is a man of many words. He was the minister of the town and he was loved. That was until he came in the church one day with a Midnight black veil on his face. The whole congregation didn’t know what to do when they saw what they saw. Everyone was uncomfortable

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    416), while it gave Hooper a more intimidating, enigmatic and somewhat inhuman demeanor that isolated him from the community his services were still available for his community. The book even says that it “enabled him to sympathize with all dark affections” (pg. 416) as many people, particularly the ones who were guilty of ‘secret sin’ felt comfortable and/or compelled by Hooper into confessing their sins. The people felt that they could tell him everything they kept secret, because the veil’s “gloom” and foreboding aura gave him the same aura of mystery. The black veil kind of symbolizes a cover-up that humans use every day to hide their real feelings and thoughts, as many people are never truly honest with others and each convey some sort of secret. It appears that the idea in this story is that humans by nature are sinful and are all guilty of some hidden sin that they try to keep in the dark because having sins is not considered human or moral. It’s not a very positive outlook on humans, but the book does seem to convey that idea, as Reverend Hooper himself is a flawed man guilty of secret sin as revealed in the end, making him no different from the rest of the townsfolk who have their own sins that they hide. However, it also shows that humans are hypocritical by nature because they are so flawed as in the end Hooper proved that he did exactly practice what he

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