The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hwathorne

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Nathaniel Hawthorne, a well-known American novelist in the Romantic era, wrote and published the short story, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” in 1836. The story provides an intriguing case of the moral and psychological facet of a religious man and his community during New England and Puritan Age. The tale begins with the villagers gathering on the front porch of the Milford meeting-house to wait for Reverend Hooper. Parson Hooper arrives, and to their astonishment, wearing a black veil obscuring his face. The villagers wonder among themselves and follow him into the meeting-house where he speaks on secret sin. The crowd is greatly affected by the veil, and leave confused of its significance. After the sermon, a funeral is held for a young woman, and his veil now becomes “acceptable”. After a few prayers, the funeral ends and someone mention that it seems “the minister and the maiden’s spirit were walking hand in hand”. He attends and brings gloom into a wedding the same night. His wearing the veil and refusal to remove it leads to the village isolating him, his fiancée leaving after an offer of redemption, and a life as a good clergyman. When it comes time for his death, he once again refuses to take off the veil, and accuses everyone to having a black veil. As Daniel Webster said, “There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange.” Character, symbolism, and solemn tone create a theme of rejection, socially and psychologically.
Firstly, characters function symbolically to create a theme of rejection. The spiritual meaning attached to the black veil has already been widely explored by critics. It publicizes Mr. Hooper’s deep psychological change, the acknowledging and carrying of his secret sin. This is a central i...

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...on between two entities causes problems today. Two current events of this would be China being furious at NHK manager's denial in Nanjing Massacre, and the United States calling on Japan, South Korea, and China to overcome historical animosity. China and Japan are currently fighting over land ownership of islands, and the main force driving them at each other’s necks is in the countries not willing to accept or apologize for their bloody history. Peace cannot occur between the two until they to learn accept, forgive, and make an attempt to understand each other.

Works Cited

Barry, Elaine. "Beyond The Veil: A Reading Of Hawthorne's 'The Minister's Black Veil.’" Studies In Short Fiction 17.1 (1980): 15. Print.
Saunders, Judith P. "Hawthorne's Theory Of Mind: An Evolutionary Psychological Approach To "The Minister's Black Veil." Style 46.3/4 (2012): 420438. Print.

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