What types of characters are present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,”? Static or dynamic, flat or round, portrayed through showing or telling? This essay will answer these questions.
In Leading American Novelists John Erskine says regarding Nathaniel Hawthorne’s characterization:
The Puritan character which Cooper failed to sympathize with, is the very subject of Hawthorne’s work; so that if he has limitations in comparison with the universal storytellers, like Scott or Balzac, the deficiency is not so much in the small amount of his product as in his inability to see life except as a Puritan world, from a Puritan standpoint; and the limitation is more clearly defined by his temperamental preoccupation with one aspect of the Puritan nature (179).
Erskine’s evaluation applies mostly aptly to the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil,” where the main character is himself a Puritan minister. R. W. B. Lewis in “The Return into Rime: Hawthorne” states: “… there is always more to the world in which Hawthorne’s characters move than any one of them can see at a glance” (77). This is especially true with such flat or two-dimensional characters as are generally found in “The Minister’s BlackVeil.” These type characters are built on a “single idea or quality” and are presented without much “individualizing detail” (Abrams 33). The sexton, Elizabeth, Goodman, the visiting divine, the nurse, etc. serve as foils to Mr. Hooper.
There is only one well-developed, or three dimensional character, in this short story, and he is the protagonist, Reverend Mr. Hooper. At the outset of the tale, the sexton, a flat or type character, is tolling the church bell and simultaneously watching Mr. Hoop...
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Minister’s Black Veil.” Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawMini.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1
Kaul, A.N. “Introduction.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Kazin, Alfred. Introduction. Selected Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Fawcett Premier, 1966.
Lewis, R. W. B. “The Return into Time: Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Swisher, Clarice. “Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
“Nathaniel Hawthorne – Biography.” The European Graduate School. The European Graduate School, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014
Since ours is an age that has found irony, ambiguity, and paradox to be central not only in literature but in life, it is not surprising that Hawthorne has seemed to us one of the most modern of nineteenth century American writers. The bulk and general excellence of the great outburst of Hawthorne criticism of the past decade attest to his relevance for us(54).
Black, Brown and Beige is a Jazz symphony composed by Duke Ellington that first premiered in 1943. This symphony holds great importance to the black community, because it was written in a tone about the Negro journey in America. It is one of the longest works composed by Duke Ellington with three parts. In this composition he targets racial identity in the African American community, and also gives a spiritual sense to the music by featuring Mahalia Jackson; a popular gospel singer at the time. The purpose and intent of Black, Brown and Beige was to create a work in remembrance of the struggles of African Americans in the United States, because up until the 1940's music from the black community was not saved on a wide basis.1
Lewis, R. W. B. “The Return into Time: Hawthorne.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Jazz music’s roots go deeper than most people could ever begin to imagine. Whether it is the influencing of other styles of music, the broadening of other media forms, or even the molding and shaping of the atmosphere of entire cities, jazz usually has a part in it. And with an impressive career spanning over 50 years, countless hits that are being replicated in numerous forms even today, and the pivotal part that he played in the Harlem Renaissance , it is almost impossible to talk about anything jazz related without mentioning Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.
Said to be the father of jazz, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, born on April 29, 1899, was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra. Duke Ellington was known and is remembered for his unique and profound style of jazz music. His development in jazz was one of the most spectacular in the history of music, as demonstrated by more than fifty years of sustained achievement as an artist which led him to be known as one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Duke’s music was so original, he called it “American Music” rather than jazz. Based on his success, it’s unlikely to think that he was not even attracted to music in his younger years, however music clearly became a very important part of his life, as he still reigns
On the first read-through of Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est it seems to just be a poem describing a soldiers experience in World War I, but there is much more to the story than that. Through the use of several literary techniques, Owen is able to vividly describe the speaker’s experiences and at the same time make them relatable to the people reading the poem. He also is able to criticize the people who he thinks are at least partly responsible for “tricking” a younger, more gullible him into the situation in the first place.
Ellington often wrote evocative music, such as "Caravan" (1936), which he intended as a portrait of an exotic locale. The piece is a cross between Latin jazz and music that is Aladdin like. The brass instruments in the background are playing in ostinato form. This piece was written by Puerto Rican Juan Tizol who played the trombone solo. Cootie Williams would later improvise on the piece, coming up with his own version of "Caravan.
During his lifetime, Ellington was able to sign his name to a Broadway musical, "Beggars Holiday", a ballet, "The River", and a full length movie score, Anatomy of a Murder. Some of his more interesting music came from the period when he wrote in a classical style. What makes his music so interesting is how it sounds so much like Beethoven yet, there is an underlying jazz feel to the music. This is something that is very unique to his writing. What is even more amazing is knowing that Duke basically taught harmony to himself and that his vast knowledge of arranging music came from experimenting with his band. Just as a chemist learns and creates in a lab, Ellington used his band to learn and create. Duke was no match for Father Time though. As death crept up on Duke Ellington, he began writing liturgical music. His most famous piece was, "In the Beginning God," which was written for orchestra chorus and soloist. Again he was still able to keep an underlying jazz
"Nathaniel Hawthorne- Biography." The European Graduate School. The European Graduate School EGS, 1997-2012. Web. 25 November 2013.
On July 4, 1804, an author by the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne was born (Meltzer). As Hawthorne grew, he began to develop a view of himself as “the obscurest man in American letters.” Through the use of popular themes such as isolation, guilt, and earthly imperfection, Hawthorne was able to involve much of his life and ancestral past in his work to answer his own political and religious wonders (“Nathaniel”). Hawthorne successfully “confronts reality rather than evading it” in many of his stories (Clendenning).
Lathrop, G. P., ed. "Hawthorne, Nathaniel." The Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. Binghamton, New York: Vail-Ballou, 1962. 439-40. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. American Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. 592-778. Print.
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.
The poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen portrays the horrors of World War I with the horrific imagery and the startling use of words he uses. He describes his experience of a gas attack where he lost a member of his squadron and the lasting impact it had on him. He describes how terrible the conditions were for the soldiers and just how bad it was. By doing this he is trying to help stop other soldiers from experiencing what happened in a shortage of time.