Comparing Minister's Black Veil And Young Goodman Brown

There is a common truth found within the different communities of religion. Be it theories of creation or different social ideologies, but the one thing that doesn’t seem to change is one’s inability to understand and acknowledge one’s sins. In “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “Young Goodman Brown”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main idea presented within the two stories is the hypocritical and unstable nature of religion. In these stories, Hawthorne tests the moral ideas behind religion in the different settings presented. Along with the common theme found in both stories Hawthorne also depicts how the actions of the characters in the stories significantly impacted the course of the work. First, in “The Minister’s Black Veil”, after the minister

In “The Minister’s Black Veil”, Parson Hooper wears the veil as a visible symbol of sin. It could be interpreted as a representation of his own sins or as a reflection of the sins of the people of the town. Although Parson Hooper tried to teach the people of their sinful nature the town failed to understand the meaning behind the veil and were only concerned with the reason for wearing the veil. They would gossip about him and “talked of little else than Parson Hooper’s black veil,” (Hawthorne “The Minister’s Black Veil” 1315) and they would make up rumors regarding the veil, or that “‘Something must surely be amiss with Mr. Hooper's intellects,’” (Hawthorne “The Minister’s Black Veil” 1314). In the end, he lived a life Hooper lived a life shunned while trying to show to the people the nature of their unavoidable sins and how they should accept their own sins to ask for repentance for their wrong

Goodman Brown tells his wife to pray and everything will be fine as he himself goes out in the middle of the night to meet with the devil. Then as the journey continues and the devil and Goodman Brown talk it is revealed that although Goodman Brown thought that no one he would know would’ve walked with the devil and he had a firm belief in what he believed to be right it is stated that, “‘shall I be the first of the name of Brown that ever took this path and kept’… ‘I have been as well acquainted with your family as with ever a one among the Puritans; and that's no trifle to say. I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem; and it was I that brought your father a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip's war. They were my good friends, both; and many a pleasant walk have we had along this path, and returned merrily after midnight. I would fain be friends with you for their sake’” (Hawthorne “Young Goodman Brown 1290-1291). It is also shown as they go along as they meet different people from the church as they go and as they come into the clearing with the ritual being held that many people have walked with the devil. Many have taken this path and Hawthorne utilizes this to show how the people all around choose to sin just as