In the story of, “The Minister’s Black Veil” it mainly has to do with curiosity and lots of mystery. It takes place on a Sunday at church when suddenly a man with a black veil shows up. The veil covered his eyes, which made everyone fear of him and become curious as to why he was wearing that veil. That is when many unanswered questions came into mind. For Example, if the reason why he was wearing that veil was to keep a sin, then the people thought they had a right to know the big secret behind all this mystery. Therefore, since nobody knew the actual reason in which why he wore the veil people thought it was unfair of him to keep the big secret to himself. In his mind, he believed people should worry about their own sins rather than his. …show more content…
It symbolizes a sin and thst no one is perfect each of us hide behind a symbolic veil.In the story, Mr Hooper says, “ Why do you tremble at me alone?....Tremble also at each other! Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil?...the symbol beneath which I have lived and die”! His point was that people should be less concerned of others sins and worry about their own sins. The veil can be compared to a man’s way of trying to hide the hideous acts of a sin by trying to cover it up. Just like Hooper was trying to, he decided to wear the veil to try and cover up his sin. Although people do not understand him, they are just thinking about themselves. The veil in this case is defined as a secret sin that Hooper is trying to …show more content…
I would have never thought a person would wear a veil to try and cover their face because they are ashamed of what they did. I found it really interesting how he did not share why he had the veil, he made it sound mysterious which made the story much more interesting. I felt as if I was in the story there was so much mystery and I still cannot believe that his fiance left him. I think that was wrong of her just because he did not want to take off his veil. It was his huge secret if he wanted her to know he would have told her since the
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 short story “The Minister’s Black Veil”, fear of the unknown is used by the main character, Mr. Hooper, to draw attention to what he believed was a necessary in order to achieve salvation. He believed people should be honest and forward with God, and should avoid wearing a “veil” to hide their true faces when speaking with God. He wore the veil to symbolize the indirectness most people use to cover themselves when speaking to God. Hooper refused to remove his veil, saying he would cast aside his veil once everyone else did, Unfortunately, Hooper never explained why he choose to wear his veil, which led to an uproar of confusion in the community. The community members looked for a simple explanation for his actions. For instance, some believed he had relations with a young girl who recently died, and he was in mourning, or committed a sin so severe he refused to show his face. The community began to avoid Hooper and fear the Reverend they once respected, just because of his one unexplained action. The community began to fear him in such a way that he losses almost all the respect he held within the community, and dies without his betrothed by his side. Even upon his deathbed he refuses to share, with the community, why he chose to wear his veil. Hawthorne reveals in this short story how people crave an explanation for the abnormal, and when they fail to find a satisfactory answer, they will reject and fear the
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
Their entire attitude changes towards him, which causes him to live his life alone. This leads into the symbolism shown in the story. In the sentence, “That piece of crape, to their imagination, seemed to hang down before his heart, the symbol of a fearful secret between him and them,” shows the symbolism of the black veil. It represents the sins Parson Hooper has. He wears the black veil to show he has sins, and he does not hide them like everyone else does in the town.
The black veil signifies sin. The minister’s veil acts as a reminder to individuals that everyone commits sin, has sins, and need to accept it. The black veil acted as a reminder that people cannot hide from the corruption of their
Mr. Hooper in “The Minister’s Black Veil” puts on a veil to symbolize “those sad mysteries which we hid[e] from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them” (Hawthorne 310). From the moment the townsfolk see the black veil they become very frightened and intimidated by Mr. Hooper, the citizens felt that “the black veil seemed to hang down before his heart” (Hawthorne 308). People became very frightened even the “most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast” (Hawthorne 312) Mr. Hooper puts this crape on as a “symbol of a fearful secret between him and them” and because of this society chastises him and makes him out to be a...
(Attention Getter) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil talks about how everyone has a secret sin because of the symbols and words he uses. The Minister’s Black Veil has many interpretations behind the story. I believe the best meaning behind the story is that the veil is a device that is used to dramatize that everyone has a secret sin and that we should not judge others.
Nathaniel Hathorne, one of my personal favorite writers, and the greatest writer in American Fiction, was originally born in Massachusetts; July 4th, 1804 (which, later-on he added a ‘w’ in his name). He was the only Son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Clark Hathorne, and at a young age, is father died from the yellow fever while at sea in 1808. Nathaniel believed that his own Puritan Heritage, haunted him because of the sins his forefathers committed were all divine retribution. He became immobile for several months after injuring his leg, and led him to believe it was the sins of his ancestors that made him live his life struggling. Likewise, in some of his works he talks about his own Puritan fathers, who were viewed as holy people, but underneath
The minister’s friends and neighbors are so upset by the veil because the veil becomes a wall between himself and his congregation. The first response is one of curiosity which then turns in suspicion. They cannot understand the meaning for the wearing of the black veil and in turn the people become very uncomfortable around him. The veil and it color ...
Throughout the novel, Ralph Ellison used symbols to tell his story in a powerful and vivid way. He was successful in using literally devices that engaged and entertained his audience. The blindfold was a symbol of oppression as well as blacks’ struggle for equality and an ironic symbol of individuality and insight. Generally, the novel was able to deliver an important message about societies’ struggle for dominance on one hand; and a way of making oneself free from such brutal treatment. It clearly showed that respect for one another; and one’s identity is the only way of solving conflicts and a way to live in peace.
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
The Minister’s Black Veil, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1836, is a parable about a minister, Mr. Hooper, who constantly wears a mysterious black veil over his face. The people in the town of Milford, are perplexed by the minister’s veil and cannot figure out why he insists on wearing it all of the time. The veil tends to create a dark atmosphere where ever the minister goes, and the minister cannot even stand to look at his own reflection. In Nathaniel Hawthorne 's literary work, The Minister 's Black Veil, the ambiance of the veil, separation from happiness that it creates, and the permanency of the black veil symbolize sin in people’s lives.
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.
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